Andy Murray has been tipped to ‘have a great Wimbledon’ this summer by the man who helped convince the Scot to have his career-saving hip surgery.
Former doubles world number one Bob Bryan underwent the same surgery a year before Murray, 35.
Bryan believes the Scot is “surprisingly brilliant” despite exiting the Australian Open in the third round.
“Four or five years ago, as he wrote on his Instagram, he was told he would never play professional tennis again,” he said.
“Now he’s playing the most physical games of the week and backing it up with incredible recovery.”
Murray spent 10½ hours on the court in wins over Matteo Berrettini and Thanasi Kokkinakis before falling narrowly to Roberto Bautista Agut.
“That’s pretty much the story of the week, in my opinion,” said Bryan, whose own surgery gave him an extra year and a bit on the court before finally retiring in 2020 at the 42 years old.
“It was really the only option. You’re practically written off. For Andy, he’s doing it on the court in singles, which is a completely different situation.”
Bryan believes Wimbledon will be a big target for Murray and his coach Ivan Lendl as it is the surface that favors the former British number one the most.
“I spoke to Ivan Lendl. I said, ‘How’s the hip?’ He’s like, ‘No problem at all,'” Bryan said.
“The most important thing is to find the balance because you have a new hip and an old hip and how your body gets used to it and how the lower back feels. I think it was an adjustment for him at first , but he understood.
“He works hard and he does the research and nobody’s smarter than him. I think you’re going to see good years coming to him.
“I think he’s going to have a great Wimbledon. He knows how to play on grass and I think that’s where he really wants to do some damage.”
