After Andy Murray suffered a serious ankle injury during his defeat to Tomas Machac at the Miami Open we assess whether he could be back for the grass season; you can watch over 80 tournaments a year, including the US Open, exclusively live on Sky Sports Tennis
Tuesday 26 March 2024 17:50, UK
Will two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray be back for the grass-court season after the news that he is set for an "extended spell" on the sidelines with a serious ankle injury?
Murray suffered injury during his dramatic defeat to Tomas Machac at the Miami Open on Sunday.
The Brit lost a marathon encounter to the Czech player, but has seemingly left Florida with long-lasting damage.
During the 10th game of the final set, the 36-year-old collapsed to the floor after he hurt his ankle when racing towards the net having sealed the point which won the game.
A medical time-out was initially called for the Scot, but he picked himself up and continued, only to lose the decider on a tie-breaker.
Murray has now confirmed the severity of his injury with his Anterior Talo-Fubular ligament (ATFL) and Calcaneofibular ligament (CFL) both ruptured.
"I will see an ankle specialist when I return home to determine next steps," he said on social media.
"Goes without saying this is a tough one to take and I'll be out for an extended period. But I'll be back with one hip and no ankle ligaments when the time is right."
Physiotherapist Mark Leather on Sky Sports News:
"A lot of this will depend on the MRI scan or stress X-ray to see if there are any adverse movements around the ankle but once the surgeon has a look at the two diagnostic tools and examines the patient with their own hands, the decision will be made to potentially treat it with non-surgery but that's unlikely I think.
"If it is surgery, the success rates are very high and I imagine someone with his previous strength and mental strength will be back between three and four months. It's not a difficult procedure on a level playing field."
"It's absolutely devastating for Andy Murray because he's had a difficult season and he admitted that," Annabel Croft told Sky Sports' Gigi Salmon.
"But things were really starting to fire-up for him here in Miami. He had that fantastic win against [Matteo] Berrettini, then he beat [Tomas Martin] Etcheverry, who he lost to earlier this year, and then against [Tomas] Machac in the round where he damaged his ankle. It was an epic match and he was so close to potentially coming that match and just towards the back-end of it he just ruptured his tendons. He's had it looked at and he's going to have more specialists looking at it, but it's just devastating.
"He's already announced that he may not potentially play past the summer so this is just a massive, massive setback. He doesn't know when he's going to come back but it's going to be tough, and as he said himself a bit tongue in cheek, if he does come back it'll be with one hip and not much of a tendon left."
So what does it mean for Murray's plans to compete at the French Open, Wimbledon and the Olympics?
The former world No 1 had been planning on returning to Roland Garros for one last time, but with a recovery period of between three and six months, it's highly unlikely Murray will be playing in Paris for the first time in four years.
Murray has played the French Open just once since reaching the semi-finals in 2017 - the season where he suffered the hip injury that required two surgeries.
"I've had experiences through my career where I didn't play the French Open in 2013 and I won Wimbledon. I also played the French Open and did really well in 2016. I don't think it makes a huge difference if you get an extra week's practice or so on the grass. So yeah, I would like to play one more time," he said earlier this year.
The grass-court season - in the shape of the Surbiton Challenger - is 10 weeks away but It could be too soon for Murray's first tournament back.
There are also events in Nottingham, Queen's, Hurlingham, The Boodles and Eastbourne in the lead-up to Wimbledon though.
The Surbiton Challenger begins on the week commending June 3, with the Rothesay Open in Nottingham held at Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre from 8-16 June.
Queen's runs from 17-23 June with Eastbourne being played at Devonshire Park from 24-29 June. The Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic at Hurlingham Club is an exhibition event that runs from 25-29 June, while The Boodles, which is played Stoke Park Country Club in Buckinghamshire also takes place from 25-29 June.
Then it's time for Wimbledon where Murray is a two-time singles champion. It runs from 1-14 July.
The soft, natural surface yields a lower and, at times, irregular bounce. The slicker surface favours flatter shots that skid off the grass. It also requires more delicate movement around the court which Murray so eloquently supplies in abundance.
Because of the potential for irregular and awkward bounces, it tends to favour players with big serves, flat groundstrokes and good skills at the net.
The excitement of the tennis season doesn't end with Wimbledon - there's still time for Murray to potentially make his comeback at this summer's Paris Olympics, from July 27 to August 4.
"I like playing at Roland Garros. I mean, obviously, yeah, if you want to do well at the Olympics, you probably are going to have to play some tournaments and get matches in on the clay. Yeah, even if the Olympics was not after Wimbledon, I would still want to play it," said the former British No 1.
However, Murray, who is the first and only man in history to have won two Olympic gold medals in singles, has previously stated that he would only compete at the Games if he feels he can win a medal.
From August 26 to September 8, all eyes will be on the US Open at Flushing Meadows in New York and it's a place where Murray has fond memories - it's where he won his first Grand Slam title against Novak Djokovic in 2012. Now, wouldn't that be ironic!
Former great Andy Roddick feels Murray is adding to his legendary status by showing guts and determination on court, despite all his injury
"Since 2019, with the hip issue, he will tell you he hasn't been the same. But the guts of him have been the same. Even if he used to turn these matches [around] and pull them out, and lately he hasn't been able to, the drama's still there, the fight is still there," the American said.
"In a weird way, I think this kind of compromised version of Murray almost adds to his legacy, the way he's grinded out the last four, five years. I certainly respect it, I don't know that I could've done it.
"I don't know if a lot of us could've done it, so props to him if it is the last time we see him in Miami. Hell of a run, pal."
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