Andy Murray has revealed the desire for his eldest daughter Sophia to see him play tennis is motivating him to make a return to the game.
Murray underwent surgery to resolve a troublesome hip injury on Monday morning and is hoping to return to competitive tennis for the 2018 grass-court season.
The 30-year-old has not played competitively since Wimbledon last summer and last week he withdrew from this month’s Australian Open.
There were doubts over his future but the early prognosis after surgery is good and Murray is determined to give his daughter, who turns two next month, the chance to see him play.
“One of the things that I would like to do is play until my eldest daughter is able to watch me and have a small understanding of what it is I’ve done for my living,” Murray told a number of national newspapers.
“That’s something I really wanted to do. That’s one of the things that motivated me to keep playing. That would be cool if she can come along and watch me hit some balls or practise, just to see what it is I do.
“I like watching and seeing a lot of the other kids when they are on the tour with their parents and get to do a bit of travelling with them when they are at an age when they actually understand a little bit more about what it is that they’re doing.”
Murray is now aiming to be back in time for this year’s grass-court season, which starts at Queen’s on June 18 before Wimbledon begins a fortnight later.
He last week posted an emotional message on Instagram, detailing his disappointment at being forced to withdraw from the Brisbane International.
The now world number 19 said the two options available to fix his troublesome hip were to continue with rehab or have surgery, for which he admitted the chances of success were not as high as he would have liked. But, after undergoing the operation in Australia, Murray’s outlook was more optimistic.
“I’m very optimistic because, having spoken to the surgeon after he did the surgery, he was very happy about how it went,” Murray said, quoted by several national newspapers.
“He felt that my hip will be feeling better than it did a year ago and, obviously, I was still doing fine a year ago, I was ranked number one in the world. Moving forward I’ll certainly be playing a reduced schedule, and then focusing more on trying to win major events and big tournaments rather than trying to achieve certain ranking goals.”
