Questions remain as Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic begin their efforts to return to the top of the tennis world at the 2018 Australian Open.
The former world No. 1 and 2 have been out of the game for almost six months while other ‘Big Four’ legends Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal reaped all the rewards all year long. Both Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have started training a few weeks ago. However, Murray has altered his competition schedule and Djokovic still says he’s battling the elbow injury. With the Australian Open approaching, what does it all mean for their respective comebacks?
Is Andy Murray ready?
This time last year Andy Murray was sitting on top of the ATP rankings, basking in a year of unprecedented achievement, a second Olympic gold medal and a knighthood awarded to him by Queen Elizabeth II. He had collected eight ATP titles, including three Masters 1000s along with a second Wimbledon slam, and the prestigious ATP World Tour title, powering through an incredible 2,500 points to take the top ranking spot from Djokovic after having sat as world No. 2 for seven hungry years.
But the physical toll of blazing through the Asian hard court swing with so many successive titles resulted in a disappointing 2017, with the Brit giving in to his chronic hip injury and pulling out for the rest of the season after his Wimbledon loss. The 30-year-old opted to avoid surgery and allowed his body and hip to heal holistically. Fans had one chance to see Murray play in public — at the charity match he and Roger Federer participated in Scotland last month — and although he won one set off the Swiss, many noted Murray’s sluggish movement and the consensus was that he didn’t look ready to compete effectively yet.
Murray also split with longtime coach Ivan Lendl — who was so integral to his success and helped temper his mental game — that same month, another sign that things weren’t coming together as fans had hoped for Murray’s comeback in 2018.
Currently ranked No. 16, he’s also just pulled out of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, and things look questionable for his return at Brisbane in just a week.
What about Novak Djokovic?
Novak Djokovic is scheduled to appear at Mubadala and has been practicing in Abu Dhabi. Rumor is that his practice sessions have been going well. This is a surprise positive sign considering that he hadn’t stepped onto a tennis court for months, which had many fans worried about the current No. 12.
After losing his No. 1 ranking to Murray at the end of 2016, the Serb entered 2017 winning a title in Doha. Djokovic had a more successful year than Murray with another title on grass in Eastbourne and reaching the Rome Masters 1000 final on clay. But in a year where “Fedal” reigned, the 30-year-old struggled all year long, battling an elbow injury throughout the year, finally pulling out completely after his Wimbledon loss, during which he retired in the middle of a quarterfinal match against Tomas Berdych.
Like Murray, Djokovic also parted ways with his celebrity coach, ending his partnership with Boris Becker at the end of 2016. (Becker had helped him achieve half of his grand slam haul.) But the Djokovic went a step further, shocking the tennis world and firing his entire longtime training staff in the spring, further suggesting that his dominant reign was over.
There were rumblings about Djokovic’s personal life all year long, with John McEnroe unfavorably comparing him to Tiger Woods and wondering if he would ever be back. Other critics noted that he had lost his mental discipline that he was able to call upon so easily during his incredible run of slam titles.
However, Djokovic has shown indications that he has a serious plan of action to get back to competitive dominance, hiring a worthy replacement in Andre Agassi as head coach and adding former player (and recently retired) Radek Stepanek to his coaching team just a few weeks ago. Tennis journalist Peter Bodo praised Stepanek’s “disruptive style” and coined him a “student of the game,” which he thinks will benefit the Serb.
“Every time [Djokovic] steps on the court I think he can win,” Andre Agassi told The Australian in early November, according to Tennis.com. “I fully expect him to do that. I fully expect to be responsible for him not doing it if he doesn’t.”
But arriving in Abu Dhabi, Djokovic admitted that his injury is still plaguing him.
“It’s been a real roller-coaster ride for me for a year and a half with this issue. I’ve never had surgery in my life, I’ve never had any major injuries that kept me away from the tour for such a long time,” Djokovic told Sport360 in Abu Dhabi.
“I’ve learned a lesson because I really want to avoid getting to that stage of an injury ever in my career after this.”
Murray and Djokovic in Abu Dhabi
Just a month ago, fans were concerned that Djokovic hadn’t hit a tennis court in months and didn’t seem serious enough to launch a comeback. But practicing in Abu Dhabi and the hire of Stepanek has changed the momentum for the Serb and he’s in better competitive shape than Murray.
Murray is perhaps a bit behind, word is that he’s getting stronger every day. He’s also still committed to playing Brisbane — a title he’s won twice, most recently in 2013 — and is keeping plans to travel there in time for competition starting the first week of 2018.
Originally scheduled to travel to Australia by Christmas to get in early training to prepare for the hard court season Down Under, his plans have been delayed, giving way to growing concern about his progress.
Looking to Federer for inspiration
Many are tapping Djokovic to win next month’s Australian Open, with several others keeping their money on Fed. Nadal, out a few weeks ago with his chronic knee injury, is still recovering and may not be 100 percent himself by the time the first grand slam rolls around.
“Novak’s played well [at the Australian Open] and he’s had a lot of time to train and recover,” said former No. 3 Milos Raonic, who is planning his own 2018 comeback after injury, as quoted by The Express. “He could do the thing that Roger was able to do [this year]. Roger’s been playing great.”
But tennis pundit Mark Petchey, who viewed Djokovic’s training in Monte Carlo prior to heading to Abu Dhabi, said that the 12-time grand slam champion is playing differently, still favoring his injured elbow.
“Looking at some of the pictures from training in Monte Carlo it looks as though he is playing with a slightly different weight balance on that frame which is in some way trying to help him alleviate whatever problem he was having with his elbow,” Petchey told Sky Sports.
However, Top Five player Dominic Thiem says that Djokovic will be a threat this year. Both are in Abu Dhabi to compete at the Mubadala exhibition.
“But now, if his injury is fine, he’s probably more dangerous and better if he had some time to recharge. I think everybody wants to know how he’s playing again and we’ll see his first matches here,” Thiem told Yahoo Sports.
Thiem also thinks he could “pull a Federer,” and come back better than ever, although the prospect is still a long shot. Thiem added, “I think we can expect the same (from Djokovic) because he is I think in the same league like Roger and Rafa, also one of the greatest players of all-time.”
Djokovic clearly is hoping to emulate Roger’s success from this year.
“My general goals in tennis and life is to really enjoy what I do and that’s what drives me still,” Djokovic told Sport360. “That’s what drives Roger [Federer] by the way.
“I mean you saw what he has done in the last year after coming back from a six-month, similar to me, absence from the tour and coming back and almost becoming No1 and Rafa [Nadal] is world No1. That’s proof that you can do it.”
Growing concern for Murray
Since his withdrawal announcement from Mubadala, there’s been growing concern that the two-time Gold medalist may not even be ready for the Australian Open.
Tim Henman, former British No. 1 and commentator for BBC, has said that Murray should hold out on trying to compete in Australian if he’s not 100 percent.
“The game is tough enough as it is when you’re 100 percent healthy,” said Henman to The Express. “So if he is 90 percent healthy, he could win a couple of rounds in Melbourne then his body is going to give up, what’s the point?”
Former Wimbledon champ Pat Cash thinks Murray is risking long-term health to come back so soon while still struggling.
“It’s a mystery to me why Murray does not just hang his racket up and enjoy life,” said Cash, also to The Express. “Obviously he must love it.”
Murray may not be playing at his 2016 level yet, but he’s committed to getting back to competition in the new year.
“Things have been going pretty well so far in the rehab, but you just never know,” Murray told The Guardian a week ago. “I’ve been training for a few weeks now. Some days I’ve felt great and some days not so good. But I will come back when I’m ready and when I’m 100 percent fit.”
Competing at the grand slams is his top priority.
“The major competitions are the ones that drive me more than the ranking. I want to compete — it was tough for me basically limping out of Wimbledon at the end,” said Murray in The Express.
Djokovic is eager to get back as well.
“I can’t wait to get back on the competition level but it was a great experience for me to have,” said Djokovic, according to Yahoo. “And it was a somewhat necessary experience because I got maybe too comfortable with not having major injuries.”
“We are aware that I need to go step by step, not hurrying anything,” Djokovic announced in a post on his website in early December. “I feel much better now, and I can’t wait to play matches again.”
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A lighter schedule and injury monitoring
Neither Murray nor Djokovic is playing at 100 percent and have not put in the kind of practice retooling and commitment that allowed Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to launch a relaxed resurgence once they entered the Australian Open this year.
“We shouldn’t expect too much at the start of the season but if he can just start to convince himself as much as anything that he can move as well as he wants to then by the spring we might start to see the real Andy Murray emerge again,” said Sky Sports’ Marcus Buckland.
The jury is still out on Andy Murray and he’ll have to take it one tournament at a time, although we’ll get a chance to see how he fares in his first competition in Brisbane next week. Djokovic is in slightly better shape, but we likely won’t see the kind of euphoric titles’ sweep that Federer and Nadal performed in 2017. However, it’s a good bet that he’ll be a contender again as the year develops.
And Novak Djokovic has issued a warning to “Fedal” about his ambitions.
“I would lie to you and I would not be honest, not to you, to myself, if I tell you anything less than being No. 1 and winning Slams,” Djokovic told Sport360 about his goals. “I know that I’ve done it in the past, I’ve proven to myself that I can do it and why not aim for it again? Because I feel that, first of all, I have the willpower.”
We’ll see Novak Djokovic play first, this weekend at the Mubadala in Abu Dhabi. Andy Murray is still scheduled for Brisbane in Australia, which starts Jan. 1, 2018.