A few years from now, while looking back at the current era in men's tennis it would be easy to observe how unlucky Andy Murray was. Playing in the same time frame with Federer, Nadal or Djokovic hampered most of his efforts to encounter fame and recognition. Even so, he was there the opportunity presented itself and had no second thought about cashing it in or not. A scorching run over the last two months of 2016 gave him the ultimate shot for glory as he was finally able to surpass Djokovic at the ATP summit. A long-awaited achievement that put Andy Murray in the select list of world No.
1 spot's holders. But the fairytale didn't last long. In 2017 that huge effort took its toll with Murray dealing with an elbow injury first and a major hip issue later during the summer swing. And that was the end of a huge chapter of his career. Unable to compete he had to watch from aside all of his hard work disintegrating little by little.
The disastrous season is not over yet
Ranked third in the world at the moment, the next month will see Andy Murray's harvest vanishing away. He won't be there defending his title in Vienna (ATP 500), Paris Bercy (Masters 1000) or the ATP Finals success. All these thee combined translate into 3000 points that will be erased. He currently has 5290 points under his belt and with the upcoming rip off he will do down somewhere in-between 15th and 20th place in the ranking.
Practically, Andy Murray will go from all to nothing in a matter of months. His comeback is likely to happen in January next year in Brisbane, Australia. It's a change of tactic given the fact that back in January he had his warm-up for the Australian Open at Doha in Qatar.
Murray could use a strong start on the Australian hard courts
A low-rank status gives zero guarantees for a safe passage towards the higher stages of an ATP event. And for Murray, digging deep from the beginning might be the key. It's not necessarily about winning points and matches in a row it's rather about building up the confidence for the great challenge posed by the Australian Open.
he will have to defend a fourth-round presence and if it's possible to get even deeper. A strong start on hard in Melbourne will be enough to propel him for Indian Wells and Miami, the highlights of the first North American outdoor hard swing.
Andy Murray will make his first appearance on a tennis court no further than the next month. Set for November 9 in the city of Glasgow, Murray will feature an exhibition event along with Roger Federer. ''Andy Murray Live'' will give him a testing ground for the hip issue. What better training than having to play a match against Roger Federer?
