Posted January 30, 2019 10:36:16

Photo: Andy Murray posted these photos to his instagram account after hip surgery. (Instagram: andymurray)

Andy Murray has shared images of himself recovering from hip-resurfacing surgery, an operation which he hopes will alleviate the hip pain threatening to force him into retirement.

The three-time major champion posted a message to his Instagram followers saying he had surgery in London on Monday local time.

"Feeling a bit battered and bruised just now," Murray wrote. "But hopefully that will be the end of my hip pain."

The Instagram post included two pictures — one of Murray in a hospital bed, the other of an X-ray showing a metal implant in his hip.

A consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Manchester Hip Clinic, Professor Max Fehily, told the BBC the operation involved "smoothing down the ball, then covering it with a metal cap", before a layer of metal is placed within the pelvic socket.

"I now have a metal hip as you can see," Murray wrote, before adding, "and I look like I've got a bit of a gut."

It is not known what the surgery might mean for the 31-year-old Murray's future in tennis.

Photo: Andy Murray took his Australian Open the match to five sets despite carrying a hip injury. (AP: Andy Brownbill)

Before he lost in the first round of the Australian Open Murray said he planned to retire at some point in 2019 — and it was possible the Melbourne Grand Slam might be the final event of his career.

He is most famous for ending Britain's 77-year wait for a male champion at Wimbledon in 2013; he also won the 2016 title there, along with the 2012 US Open and two Olympic singles gold medals and a Davis Cup, while reaching number one in the world rankings.

He has dealt with hip pain for years and already had one operation in January 2018. But that did not solve the problem.

The night he lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in Melbourne, Murray said he would decide quickly whether to have surgery again.

"I have an option to have another operation, which is a little bit more kind of severe than what I've had before — having my hip resurfaced, which will allow me to have a better quality of life and be out of pain. That's something that I'm seriously considering right now," he said at the time.

"Some athletes have had that and have gone back to competing. But there's obviously no guarantees with that.

"The reason for having an operation like that is not to return to professional sports, you know, it's just for a better quality of life."

Murray had been keeping in touch with American doubles player Bob Bryan, who had the same hip resurfacing with a metal implant last August.

The Scot's career is almost certainly over after hobbling out of the Australian Open, but his legacy of fighting for every point will ensure he is remembered as one of the greats.

By December, Bryan was back at practice. And he made his Grand Slam return at the Australian Open.

"He's been watching me like a hawk, asking me how I'm feeling after matches, after practices, where I'm at. He's just trying to gauge how long it would take him, if this procedure is an option," Bryan said about Murray.

"I'm just trying to be supportive. I never once told him, 'This is the way to go,' because I do see that singles is a different monster.

"Those guys are really sliding around, killing themselves for four hours. Who knows if this joint would hold up?"

AP/ABC

Topics: tennis, sport, united-kingdom