Former British and world No 1 Murray set to partner Feliciano Lopez in men's doubles
Tuesday 18 June 2019 20:19, UK
Andy Murray is set to step back onto a tennis court on Thursday - just 143 days after undergoing a hip operation in a bid to salvage his career.
Britain's former world No 1 Murray is scheduled to make his comeback on Thursday, five months after he tearfully announced at January's Australian Open that it may have to be his last tournament, such was the pain his chronic injury was giving him.
Instead, on January 28, Murray went under the knife in what he has described as "life-changing" hip resurfacing surgery where a metal plate was inserted into the joint.
The 32-year-old Scot will partner Spain's Feliciano Lopez in the men's doubles competition on Thursday against Colombian top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah. That is because Lopez's singles match against Marton Fucsovics was one of those which fell foul of Tuesday's weather at the Fever-Tree Championships.
Rain, however, washed out the second day's play for only the third time in 18 years, with matches involving the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Juan Martin del Potro and Stan Wawrinka, meaning the prestigious tournament held in west London will attempt to play catch-up.
Queen's, followed by Eastbourne and Wimbledon, are about testing Murray's body, putting miles on the clock and regaining some match sharpness with a view to resuming his singles career before the end of the year.
It felt like it was actually a nice progression of the rehab I've been doing and getting back onto the court and see how I feel on a match court playing doubles.
"My goal is still to get back to playing singles, ultimately," the Scot said.
"Maybe six to eight weeks ago I was chatting with my team about the best way to get back onto the court again, singles-wise.
"We felt doubles would be a good option to test myself out and see how I feel, where there is maybe a bit obviously less loading on the body, less movement, but you still have to make some quick moves and have quick reactions.
"It felt like it was actually a nice progression of the rehab I've been doing and getting back onto the court and see how I feel on a match court playing doubles.
"Then that will give me some information about where I'm at and maybe things I need to improve or whatever."
