MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – MARCH 24: Andy Murray of Great Britain injures his left leg during a rally against Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic in the third round of the Miami Open at the Hard Rock Stadium on March 24, 2024 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Phot
Image credit: Eurosport
Andy Murray will not have surgery on an ankle injury he suffered last month, but a return date is still not known.
The 36-year-old ruptured his ankle ligament in a third-round defeat to Tomas Machac at the Miami Open on March 24.
Murray fell to the floor in pain, but he was able to finish the match after receiving on-court treatment.
A spokesperson from Murray’s team confirmed on Monday that his rehabilitation “is going well”.
The spokesperson said: “Latest update from Andy is that he is now out of the walking boot and will not be having surgery on his ankle,
“His rehab is going well and he is hoping to start hitting again on court soon. As yet he doesn’t have a date yet for returning to competition.”
The Olympic Games, which Murray also said he would like to compete in, starts in Paris on July 26.
Mats Wilander says Andy Murray can end his glittering career “on top” at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
Murray, 36, has hinted that his retirement could be just around the corner, but the two-time Wimbledon champion is expected to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
Wilander told Eurosport that he believes the Olympics could be Murray’s final event before calling time on his career.
“I’m really, really looking forward to him playing the Olympics, because I hope that if he does quit this year – which I hope he doesn’t – I do believe personally that it will happen at the Olympics,” Wilander predicted to Eurosport.
Murray won Olympic gold at his home Games 12 years ago in Great Britain and also clinched the top spot on the podium at the 2016 Games in Rio.
He remains the only men’s player to win the singles competition twice and Wilander believes that is where his legacy lies.
“That’s where he’s made the biggest impact on British tennis,” Wilander said.
“That’s where he has made the most fans and friends in his home nation of Great Britain because he played for his country and he won it twice.
“Not even [Roger] Federer [Rafael] Nadal or [Novak] Djokovic won the Olympics twice. Of course, some of those guys haven’t even won it once.
“But Andy Murray is a Wimbledon champion twice, more importantly. So I hope that he keeps the same natural free-flowing tennis that he showed in the last few weeks.
“And then he can win matches against the best players in the world, and he’s going to be a dangerous threat and go out somewhat on top.”
Despite all the excitement around what could be an incredible end to a remarkable career for the former world No. 1, there are concerns surrounding Murray after he suffered an injury in Miami.
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Murray v Machac – Miami Open highlights
Wilander labelled Murray as “one of the greatest fighters of all time” who would have been far more successful had he not played in the same era as Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
“A lot of people have, I think, misunderstood Andy Murray over the years,” Wilander explained. “But when you see him in Miami after doing that to his ankle, suddenly, they might realise Andy Murray is one of the greatest fighters of all time, one the greatest competitors of all time.
“He would have won 10 majors if he didn’t play at the same time as the big three. Again, it’s just Andy Murray. He’s an unbelievable fighter. He’s got so much knowledge, so much experience, but he still looks at tennis like a kid, like when he was 14 years old.”
Wilder also admitted Murray’s injury is “terrible, terrible news”, but credited the veteran for always wanting to match his younger, more athletic opponents.
“The message he’s sending is ‘I still believe, and I’ve proved the point to myself, that I can play with these young guys. I can open up my shoulders, so to speak, and go for winners and play short points if I have to’.”
On why Murray continued to play until the end of the match despite the injury, Wilander added: “I think he didn’t want to retire. He doesn’t want to retire in a match. He wants to try and play until the end of the match, whether it’s on one leg or one hip or one foot, whatever.
“He’s a fighter. He’s warrior out there, and I think he finds it challenging to try and finish the match, even though his ankle might be a bit sore.”
It’s time for the clay swing.
The next couple of months will feature some of the biggest tournaments of the season as players build up to the French Open.
The first port of call for most of the top stars on the ATP Tour is the Monte Carlo Masters, which is one of three ATP Masters 1000 clay tournaments.
The Monte Carlo Masters is played on clay courts at the Monte Carlo Country Club and is an ATP Tour event.
Qualifying starts on Saturday, April 6 and the main draw begins on Monday, April 8.
The singles final is held on Sunday, April 14.
Play starts at 10am UK time every day except for finals day, when the singles final begins at 2pm UK time.
The world No. 1 has had a rocky start to the year, losing in the Australian Open semi-finals and then suffering a shock defeat to Luca Nardi in the third round at Indian Wells.
Djokovic, who has been pictured practising with Holger Rune in Monte Carlo, has not yet hired a replacement for Ivanisevic.
Djokovic is into his 419th week as world No. 1 and this week will break Roger Federer’s record as the oldest No. 1 in history.
Jannik Sinner appears to be on the march to becoming world No. 1 after his stunning start to the year but can’t catch Djokovic in Monte Carlo as he has 360 points to defend from making the semi-finals last year, while Djokovic only has 90.
Carlos Alcaraz, who has slipped down to world No. 3, also only has 90 points to defend but is 1,080 points behind Djokovic.
There are 1,000 points on offer for the winner in Monte Carlo.
Rafeal Nadal’s potential clay swansong is set to start in Monte Carlo.
The 11-time champion has not played since making his return after a year out in Brisbane at the start of the season.
Clay remains Nadal’s favourite surface and is expected to be kinder for his body than hard courts.
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are both set to start their clay seasons in Monte Carlo.
Sinner and Alcaraz were the standout players across the Sunshine Double, winning Miami and Indian Wells respectively, and look the closest rivals to Djokovic.
Murray’s team have said it is “still not clear how long Andy will be out of action”, but there is a chance he could miss the entire clay season due to the injury.
Andrey Rublev beat Holger Rune in last year’s final to claim the first Masters 1000 title of his career.
Rublev does not come into the tournament in the best of form, having lost two of three matches across Indian Wells and Miami.
Andy Murray has confirmed he will miss two clay-court ATP tournaments in April as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury sustained at the Miami Open.
A spokesperson said Murray would now miss the Monte-Carlo Masters and Bavarian International next month.
“At this stage, it is still not clear how long Andy will be out of action, and he is continuing to review options with his medical team,” the statement read.
“Obviously this is very disappointing news for Andy and he has reiterated his desire to get back on court as soon as possible.”
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Andy Murray
Image credit: Getty Images
The three-time Grand Slam champion underwent career-saving hip resurfacing surgery in 2019, and he has struggled to perform at his best since.
He impressed at the Miami Open, however, and rose to world No. 59 after reaching the round of 32.
“Goes without saying this is a tough one to take and I’ll be out for an extended period,” Murray posted on social media after suffering his injury against Machac.
“But I’ll be back with one hip and no ankle ligaments when the time is right.”
Andy Murray has confirmed he will miss two clay-court ATP tournaments in April as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury sustained at the Miami Open.
A spokesperson said Murray would now miss the Monte-Carlo Masters and Bavarian International next month.
“At this stage, it is still not clear how long Andy will be out of action, and he is continuing to review options with his medical team,” the statement read.
“Obviously this is very disappointing news for Andy and he has reiterated his desire to get back on court as soon as possible.”
Andy Murray
Image credit: Getty Images
The three-time Grand Slam champion underwent career-saving hip resurfacing surgery in 2019, and he has struggled to perform at his best since.
He impressed at the Miami Open, however, and rose to world No. 59 after reaching the round of 32.
“Goes without saying this is a tough one to take and I’ll be out for an extended period,” Murray posted on social media after suffering his injury against Machac.
“But I’ll be back with one hip and no ankle ligaments when the time is right.”
Murray, 36, almost won the third-round match despite the injury, which saw him hopping in agony in the 10th game of the final set, but was beaten 5-7 7-5 7-6(5).
Murray revealed afterwards that he has suffered a “full rupture of my ATFL [anterior talo-fibular ligament] and near full thickness rupture of my CFL [calcaneofibular ligament]” and is set to see an ankle specialist on his return to the UK.
Murray has only said so far that he will miss an “extended period”.
He also declared that he will “be back” – but when, though?
With the more optimistic timeline of six weeks, if Murray makes good progress then he might be back on court by early May.
However, it seems likely that his ankle injury will scupper his hopes of playing the European clay swing.
Instead, it seems to make more sense that he would focus his attentions on getting ready for the grass swing.
If Murray is to step away from tennis after the summer then it has been widely predicted that his final tournament could be Wimbledon or the Olympics.
Murray has won Wimbledon twice and grass remains his favourite surface.
If his ankle recovery goes well, he could start his preparations for Wimbledon by trying to defend his Surbiton and Nottingham titles in early June, before moving on to Queen’s.
Wimbledon starts on July 1 and is followed by the Olympic tennis event at Roland-Garros on July 27.
He could have a better chance of doing that in doubles rather than singles.
Yet while Murray might have looked refreshed over the last week, it appears he is bracing himself to finish his career this summer.
“I am looking forward to the end now,” he said after his defeat to Machac. “Give my best the next few months and get to be at home with my family.”
That was before the severity of his ankle injury was revealed, though.
If Murray’s recovery timeline puts his Wimbledon plans in jeopardy, could he play on beyond the summer?
His run at the Miami Open might have given him some pause for thought.
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Fired up Murray defeats Berrettini to progress – Miami Open highlights
He played his best tennis of the year to reach the third round and could have beaten Machac, even though he looked in agony after injuring his ankle.
He was aiming for three-straight wins at Masters 1000 level or above for the first time since 2017 – and looked on track for that until Machac fought back from 5-3 down in the third set tie-breaker.
Despite the loss, Murray was left feeling “pretty positive” with his overall showing in Miami.
“There were some good signs in my game,” said Murray.
“Definitely an improvement on the last few tournaments, not perfect, but considering everything to be winning matches against the players I did and pushing Tomas like I did today, I’m proud of myself because it’s extremely difficult to do what I’m doing with the issue that I have.
“To still be able to compete with these guys is a credit to myself and the work that I’ve done and the effort that I’ve put into this to keep myself in this position.”
The 36-year-old former world No. 1 had been enjoying one of his best tournaments in recent years as he reached the third round in Florida, but despite taking the first set against his Czech opponent, lost 5-7 7-5 7-6.
Murray needed treatment during the final set, and writing on his Instagram account on Monday, he explained the severity of his injury.
“Yesterday towards the end of my match in Miami I suffered a full rupture of my ATFL [anterior talofibular ligament] and near full thickness rupture of my CFL,” he said.
“I will see an ankle specialist when I return home to determine next steps. 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 1 hip and no ankle ligaments when the time is right.”
Murray did not give any further information about when he might return to court, but given the potential severity of the problem, the news casts into doubt his hopes for the summer.
In what some had anticipated could be his last year on the professional circuit, he had hoped to make an appearance at Wimbledon this summer, and he also spoke about earning a place for Team GB at the Olympics in Paris this summer.
For the veteran player it may prove one injury too many for him to continue. Hip surgery in 2019 took him from one of the best players in the world to one who struggled to match the top 10, with only a handful of titles since his return.
The former world No.1 battled hard in his quest for a last-16 place after winning the first set and moving two points ahead in the third-set tie-break, but the Czech progressed.
Despite his exit, Murray could come away with the positive of putting together back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
“But the guts of him has been the same. Even if he used to turn these matches and pull them, lately, he hasn’t been able to.
“The drama is still there, the fight is still there. In a way, this compromised version of Murray almost adds to his legacy with the way he’s grinded out the last four or five years.
“I certainly respect it; I don’t know if I or a lot of us could’ve done it. So, props to him if it is the last time we see him in Miami. It’s been a hell of a run, pal.”
However, he is hoping to do so after playing for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympics and making an appearance at Wimbledon.
There is plenty of shared admiration for Murray, with Carlos Alcaraz adding to the plaudits for the three-time Grand Slam winner.
Murray posted on X that ‘watching Alcaraz play tennis makes me smile,’ and the Spaniard was clearly overjoyed by the Brit’s kind words.
“He’s great; I said many times that I only play for myself or my team, but it’s nice when people enjoy watching my matches,” Alcaraz told reporters.
“It’s pretty cool and it’s even better if a legend like Andy said he enjoys watching my matches. It’s crazy for me because he’s seen a lot of tennis in his career, as well as a lot of matches and players.
“These words from him are great and I try to play this in every match.”
Britain’s Andy Murray fell agonisingly short in the third round of the Miami Open as he lost 5-7 7-5 7-6(5) to Tomas Machac after three hours and 27 minutes.
The 36-year-old Scot was up against Machac, who had beaten Andrey Rublev, the world No. 6, in their second round-tie in Florida.
Murray has not given up hope of earning a place in the Team GB line-up for the Paris 2024 Olympics this summer, and also of impressing at this year’s Wimbledon amid speculation it could be his last appearance at SW19.
The match went with serve until 5-5, when Murray then had Machac worried when he went 0-30 clear on the Czech’s serve, but he battled back to deuce. The Scot then moved back in front and wrapped up the break to give himself the chance of serving for the first set.
After a rain-hit win in his last match, this encounter was also halted for rain in the second set with Murray trailing 2-1.
This time, the second set was a mirror of the first, and it was Machac who broke to set up a decisive third set.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 23-year-old Machac was far brighter as the match progressed into the final set and Murray could not keep up as he was broken early to go 3-0 down.
However, there was a familiar Murray fight back on the cards as he broke back to move 5-4 behind, and he then proceeded to hold serve to level at 5-5.
For a brief moment it looked as if the veteran would score a famous victory as he went two points clear in the tie-break, but Machac then battled back to take it 7-5 and move into the next round.
