Murray career may be over: John Newcombe

Australian tennis legend John Newcombe believes Andy Murray’s chances of resurrecting his career at the elite level of the game are virtually over.

Newcombe, who won Wimbledon three times and is howe TV commentator, believes Murray’s hip injury has ended his elite career.

“I don’t see how Andy Murray can ever get back to being the player he was given his age and the chronic nature of his hip injury,” Newcombe told the Glasgow Herald and Times.

“At his age it takes longer to recover so I don’t believe he can win more Grand Slam tournaments and compete consistently with the likes of Djokovic, Nadal, and even Federer who is in the twilight of his career.

“I predicted about 10 years ago that Andy would retire having won two or three majors and he’s done exactly that.

“But he suffered a bad injury and at 32 he’s not going to get any better.”

Murray, 32, struggled throughout the 2017 Wimbledon tournament and then took. Much of that year off, in a bid to regain fitness.

Then after surgery in 2018 Murray said he wasn’t finished with tennis. “I’m going to be competing at the highest level again,” he said.

In 2019 he underwent further surgery, in a revolutionary procedure which involved a metal cap being inserted at the top of his femur bone.

Murray has not played since that five encounter in the first round of the Davis Cup in Madrid in November.

He withdrew from the 2020 Australian Open and has since withdrawn from two tournaments in Europe next month.