Andy Murray will be back after rejuvenating win at Queen’s Club

Andy Murray’s return to tennis got a huge boost with his doubles win at Queen’s Club, and seems to be continuing his comeback at Wimbledon.

The Andy Murray who bounced around the courts at Queen’s Club was a sharp contrast to the limping, hunched over player dealing with serious hip and lower back pain at the Australian Open earlier this year. His first round match exit Down Under was a brutal affair that went the distance, culminating in a five set loss to Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(4), 6-2, and left the despondent 32-year-old venting tears of frustration in the devastating press conference afterwards.

The Scotsman had already undergone one invasive hip surgery. After the Australian disappointment, he decided to go under the knife again. At the time, Murray wasn’t sure if he would ever play tennis again. He had no expectation to. What he looked forward to after the Aussie tournament was the ability to perform the simplest of tasks, like tying his shoes, pain-free.

First tournament back results in astonishing title win

Andy Murray’s confident, relaxed stride on display during his Queen’s Club matches was an unexpected delight for tennis fans, especially British ones. Gone was the haunted look of agony, replaced with plenty of smiles and freedom of movement. Murray’s partnership with Spain’s Feliciano López was a breath of fresh air, with the two of them defying the odds in each of their matches, all the way to the completely unexpected title win at the Fever-Tree Championships.

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"“I’ve just won the doubles here with Feli [López]– with a metal hip,” Murray joked during his on-court interview. “It’s mental, really. It’s a cool thing to be able to have done, because of where I was a few months ago. Even as recently as two months ago I just wasn’t thinking about this. I was just really, really happy to be pain-free and enjoying life, literally just doing normal things. So it’s really special.”"

Finding the right partner

Queen’s Club was a miracle run for López, who not only won the tournament with his appreciative partner Murray, but went on to claim the singles title as well. Talk about defying the odds. Once ranked No. 12, Feli López had dropped out of the Top 100 and entered Queen’s as a wildcard entry. On the same day that saw Roger Federer win his third ATP title this year at Halle, Feli became the second 37-year-old to claim a title that day. Proving that the 30-something-year-olds continue to demonstrate better fitness than their younger counterparts, Feli locked in the two doubles and singles finals on the same day, remarkably the day after having to play three matches (a continued quarterfinal and then seminfinals doubles events in addition to his singles semi).

As great as his partnership with López was at Queen’s, Andy Murray teamed up with Marcelo Melo– the No. 4 ranked doubles player– at the next tournament, Eastbourne, with far different results. The same doubles team Murray defeated in the first round with López at Queen’s avenged their loss by knocking out Murray-Melo at the Nature Valley International, losing 6-2 6-4 to Colombians Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal.

However, the 32-year-old Scot has every reason to believe he can win a title at Wimbledon. He will be playing with Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who has won doubles titles at all four slams.

“With Andy’s unbelievable return and Herbert’s great doubles record, they have a real chance of winning the tournament,” said Brian Cowan, a British tennis commentator.

But mostly Andy Murray can feel relieved that he’s moving so well. There are no signs of discomfort at all, and he looks fully fit heading to the grass slam. Doubles matches don’t usually sell out, but English fans have been filling up the bleachers at the chance to watch Murray play doubles. The trend is likely to continue at Wimbledon, where excitement will be high for the two-time Wimbledon champ to return.

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What about mixed doubles?

Andy Murray is still looking for a mixed doubles partner as well, after several famous names turned him down (Ashleigh Barty, Victoria Azarenka and Kristina Mladenovic). He’s taking it all in stride, unsure if combining the two events might just be too much on the new hip.

What are his thoughts on playing singles again? His return might be sooner than you think

But the movement and fitness level of the twice-gold medalist is a pretty good indication of a prospective return to singles, something he is contemplating of undertaking in August (at the Cincinnatti Masters in prep for the U.S. Open).

“If I keep progressing, I would like to try to play singles,” Murray said after his championship match win partnering Feliciano López, where they defeated American Rajeev Ram and Britain’s Joe Salisbury, 7-6(6), 5-7, 10-5.

However, Murray is taking it one tournament at a time, one match at a time. He’s not placing any pressure on himself. But mostly, he’s clearly enjoying being back in the sport. Pain-free.

“I expected it to be sore,” Murray said after winning at Queen’s Club. “For the last five or six years after matches I had been getting some pain, some aching and throbbing. I would just wait for that to happen, but it doesn’t any more. And it’s brilliant.”

Eastbourne matches are going on all week, the last prep tournament before Wimbledon. The grass slam main draw matches begin July 1. Seeds will be announced June 26, with the official draw announcement to follow on June 28. Stay tuned here for all your Wimbledon and tennis coverage.