Andy Murray would consider 'semi-humiliation' in his results simply to play again, says John McEnroe

McEnroe believes the Scot will go to great lengths to ensure his return to the sport he loves

Andy Murray is now involved in a race to be fit for Wimbledon (Getty)

John McEnroe thinks that Andy Murray will not be lacking in motivation when he returns to competition following a year on the sidelines with a hip injury. The veteran American also believes Murray will consider “worth taking semi-humiliation” in terms of his results so long as he is able to play the sport he loves again.

Murray has pulled out of his intended comeback tournament in the Netherlands next week because he does not feel ready to play yet and is now involved in a race to be fit for Wimbledon, which begins on 2 July. The former world No 1, who had hip surgery in January, is due to play in the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s Club the week after next.

Whenever he returns, McEnroe expects the Scot to be fully motivated. “At this stage, there’s a lot of upside for him,” McEnroe said here on Wednesday. “The comparisons with the three other guys [Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic] for example, these three other guys that he’s had to battle for so long. And seeing the resurgence: Rafa looks like Rafa and Roger’s had this amazing run.”

McEnroe, who will again be part of the BBC’s commentary team at Wimbledon this summer, thinks it is possible that Murray could play at the All England Club without any matches under his belt.

“Some guy by the name of Federer did that,” McEnroe said. “He seemed to do OK. But you see the other guys, it's not so simple when they try to come back after missing six months or a year. It's just a different animal. He's going to play because he loves to play, but I’m sure he would be realistic about what he could do if he did play. It would be tough to go a long way if he hasn’t played.”

Having won his last Grand Slam title in 1984 at the age of 25, McEnroe took two lengthy breaks from the tour in 1986 and 1987 but carried on playing singles until he was 33.

“You keep giving yourself reasons as to why it’s worth it,” he said. “It’s worth taking semi-humiliation. You’re still out there doing something you love in a way. You’re not as good as you were.

“I’m not even saying he won’t be [as good as he was] because I don’t know what will happen, but it will be pretty tough to come back and be better than he was, unless I’m missing something when you have hip surgery. Maybe they can cure it completely, but that’s a pretty tough injury to overcome. Let’s just say it’s difficult.

“When I first took my time off I remember that I didn’t do it so that I would be worse when I came back. My plan was to be better.”

McEnroe expects Murray to be fully focused when he returns to action (Getty ) (Getty)

McEnroe said he would have found falling down the world rankings preferable to not being able to play at all, but added: “It’s tough. You sink to a certain level where you can’t take it any more. I felt like I was still one of the top 10 guys, but in order to even keep that ranking in a way, I had to do a lot more than I was capable of doing in terms of travel with kids and family. That complicates things.”

McEnroe said there were a number of current examples of players who were having difficulty as they embarked on their comebacks. “Everyone’s different,” he said. “You go from the extreme of Roger being able to pull it off to Stan [Wawrinka], who has barely played. Novak doesn’t seem like himself yet and that's been the better part of almost a couple of years now.”

Murray has not played since Wimbledon last summer and McEnroe thinks it would be impossible for him to know definitively when he would be ready to return. “We all know how different practice is to a match where you step on the Centre Court at Wimbledon,” he said. “It’s too bad. It’s a year. That’s a long time.”

McEnroe said that returning on grass would be particularly challenging. “When you have a hip problem you have a tendency to be more cautious,” he said. “I had some hip issues. I felt like I lost some speed. It's not a good feeling, particularly when guys are hitting it harder than ever.”

McEnroe pointed out that different players enjoying varying degrees of success when returning from an injury (Rex Features)

The American believes that Murray will play a more aggressive game when he returns. “That's something that helped him win in the first place, so it would seem to be a no brainer,” McEnroe said.

“But whether or not he had a hip problem, he should have done that anyway. When he got more aggressive off the return, with the forehand and going after more backhands, he became more difficult to deal with.”

McEnroe laughed at a suggestion that Murray’s best chance of winning another Grand Slam title would be in doubles. “I don’t know about that,” he said. “I played doubles for more of a purpose than he does. He might play because he’s playing with his brother in the Davis Cup or something. I had a lot of history with it.

“Maybe it was easier for me to go off and do that after the fact – be able to play doubles and sort of salvage something. But he’s played so little.

“He certainly could do that if he wanted, but I doubt it. I don’t see that happening. He seems like the type of guy that I would assume is doing everything he possibly can and he wants to be back to what he was. That’s what he’s planning on. There’s no question that he’s coming back so that he could rise to the occasion again and win majors.”