Fun is back for Murray on victorious Wimbledon return
Murray, a two-time Wimbledon singles champion, partnered France's Pierre-Hugues Herbert to a four-set win in their first round doubles match.
Britain’s Andy Murray (R) and France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert celebrate winning a point against Romania’s Marius Copil and France’s Ugo Humbert during their men’s doubles first round match on the fourth day of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 4, 2019. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Ben STANSALL has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [first round] instead of [second round]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.
Former world number one Andy Murray made a victorious return to Wimbledon on Thursday and admitted he had rediscovered the fun in playing again.
Murray, a two-time Wimbledon singles champion, partnered France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert to a four-set win in their first round doubles match.
“It’s what I have enjoyed doing since I was a kid. At times over the last few years, I was not getting any enjoyment out of it,” said Murray.
“The fun is back. Hopefully my hip will feel good for a while.”
The 32-year-old Scotsman, who could become the first Wimbledon men’s singles champion since Michael Stich in 1992 to also win the doubles title, returned to tennis only a fortnight ago after what he called life-changing hip surgery.
He and Herbert, who has won all four Slam doubles titles, gelled as the match went on and beat Romanian Marius Copil and Frenchman Ugo Humbert 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 on Court One.
“It was nice,” said Murray. “I mean I was a little bit nervous at the start (he lost his opening service game) but got better as match went on.
“It was a really nice atmosphere at the end with the new roof closed the crowd make more noise.
“Great to get the win.”
Murray, who made a dream return to the sport with a doubles title win at Queen’s alongside Feliciano Lopez, said that having not played with Herbert before it had taken time to click.
“It is tough but as the match went on we got more comfortable and were reading each others games better.
“As it went on we set each other up with great returns and moved well at the net.”
Herbert, who angered his usual partner Nicolas Mahut by opting to play with Murray, smiled when asked what marks he would give Murray for his performance.
“It is tough to give a mark to Andy as he won here in singles and that is much harder than winning in doubles,” said the Frenchman.
“He played well as the match went on and by the end we were much more of a team.”
Murray admitted it was fun to be playing again after it looked at the Australian Open back in January that his career was over.
He said he is virtually pain-free although the muscles that are worked harder in doubles are beginning to make themselves known.
“With my hip nothing. My back gets a bit stiff playing doubles. It’s just quite different movements on the grass.
“You’re kind of in a crouched-over position a lot when you’re up at the net, which is kind of different to what I’ve always trained and been used to playing singles.
“In general, it’s more just like a bit of stiffness, a bit of soreness than pain really. But I won’t have anything in my hip. Why should I? It’s metal. There’s nothing to hurt there any more, which is good.”
Murray will be back on court on Friday night where he will play mixed doubles with Serena Williams.
Murray won a mixed doubles silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics played at the All England Club.
Williams was the 1998 Wimbledon champion in the discipline with Max Mirnyi.
“To share the court with a British icon will be amazing,” said Williams.
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