Andy Murray will have to have at least one full hip replacement – and his tennis swansong could bring the surgery forward by years.
The world No 1 was fully aware that the resurfacing he underwent in January was likely to last him only into his fifties.
Then he would need a full replacement as the resurfacing procedure can only be performed once.
“There is always a risk in sport,” Murray said. “The prosthesis that I have in there they say should last 20 or so years – then I would have a full hip replacement. You can’t resurface your hip twice.
“The risk in playing is that it lasts less time than it would otherwise and I would need a hip replacement sooner.
“And with playing sport at a high level, that risk is higher. It might mean the operation or the prosthesis won’t last as long. That is why doctors and stuff are cautious.
“For surgeons and doctors, they don’t want to be the person who says, ‘Go back and do this, absolutely you’ll be fine’, then have it break after two years and there needs to be a full hip replacement.”
Initially, Murray was happy to hang up his racket and simply enjoy a pain-free life after undergoing the procedure.
But after the success of the operation, his surgeon Sarah Muirhead-Allwood was among those persuading him to give top-level tennis one last go – in part because medics wanted to see just how robust the relatively new treatment can be.
They hope it could be the gateway to similar operations on other leading sportsmen.
“The lady who operated on me at the beginning said, ‘You can try, but don’t have such high expectations’,” Murray recalled.
“Then at some stage during the rehab I said, ‘You know what? I feel great. I have no pain in my hip and I am happy. I don’t need to play tennis’.
“Then it was her who started saying, ‘Oh no, you should give it a go!’
“Doctors need to gain confidence in the operation. I am hoping with me doing what I am doing maybe it will make people think they, too, can have the operation.”
Murray has had lots of encouraging messages from people who have led active lives after a full hip replacement so he is confident the procedure will not be life-limiting whenever it does occur.
There is even a train of thought that by continuing in the lifestyle of a top athlete and working his body hard, the resurfacing process may even last longer.
“With the prosthesis, if you have a strong bone around it, it can make it better,” Murray said. “If you don’t exercise and your bones become weak, there is a way of thinking where it becomes weaker quicker. There is a balance.
“There is even a possibility it could last longer.”
There is certainly no respite for Murray at the moment. Following his gruelling two hour, 42 minute three-set defeat to Alex de Minaur in Zhuhai on Thursday he moves onto Beijing with the ATP 1000 event in Shanghai the week after.
“I have no pain in my hip after playing two-and-a-half hours, so it’s clear I can still compete at a high level,” he said.
“I have put my body through a lot over the years, but with what has happened the last couple of years, I still want to work hard and train hard.
“I am just allowing myself a bit more time to rest and relax.
“When I am training and practising I will still give my best effort, but I want to give my body a bit more time to recover. I did not really think of doing that earlier my career.”
