The return of his most formidable rival can be an encouragement for Andy Murray



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ANDY Murray and Novak Djokovic were not born less than a week apart each other in May 1987. They clash against each other on a tennis court from from the age of 12, advance from a decade of honors in world tennis based on the results of their competitions. Two men with extremely similar playing styles, in June 2016, Novak Djokovic had baderted his fame in tennis by cumulating the four Grand Slam titles, only for the Scottish to supplant him at the top of the sport at the end of the year. frenetic year.

Then an injury occurred. And it hit hard. The two men spent the year in vain hoping that their hip and elbow problems would go away without surgical necessity, as Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal – returned to health – filled their boots. The pair then spent the first weeks of this year realizing that this would not be the case, Djokovic going to surgery in Switzerland a few weeks after Murray went under the bistoury in Melbourne.

That's why it would be too simplistic and rather silly to say that there is a lesson to be learned for Murray this morning, from the way that Djokovic became the last big hit of male tennis to succeed recovery after a serious injury. After all, the Scot usually has a few lengths ahead of us – as he was when he predicted that the Serb was ready to win a fourth title at Wimbledon this weekend .

Nor, so far as there seems to be a similarity in their struggles, someone should badume an easy correlation between the two wounds. As shown in the timeline above, Djokovic is way ahead of schedule compared to the Scotsman, who only has three games in his return. He knew that he could win Wimbledon so he decided to go in. Murray knew that he could not, so he did not do it.

But that does not mean that Dunblane's most famous son can no longer draw encouragement from the return of his great rival to the top of the sport. First, the return of the Serbs to such robust physical health at the age of 31 is a real threat to those who think that Murray still has time with him. On the proof of this tournament, the tennis is directed towards the thirties. The four male semi-finalists were in top form in their 30s, while the women's singles final featured a pair of Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber who were on the wrong side.

In addition, at first glance, Djokovic's victory confirms Murray's soft and gentle approach when it comes to diving back into the rough waters of competitive tennis. While some may have been cursing the way to withdraw from the 11th hour, Djokovic made the mistake of coming back too early from his recovery at the time of Indian Wells and Miami in March and has paid the penalty for that. If part of the process for Murray will almost certainly be a humiliating defeat here and there, there are points in their respective recoveries when you could say pretty much something similar on both Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal too.

"To be honest, I learned to be patient in this process," said Djokovic. "In February, when I had elbow surgery, I was really looking forward to it.I wanted to come back and compete as fast as I could.I wanted to go out on the field.

"I was still feeling a bit of discomfort and pain when I played at Indian Wells, Miami, and I just kept going even though everyone was competing against me at this point. I could not imagine being away from the tour a few months after being out of the tour six months into the last season, so I had to learn the lessons in a difficult way. "

While this is a process that will require tremendous support, Murray's third good news of Djokovic's victory at Wimbledon is how suddenly everything can click. After declaring after Roland Garros that even his participation in the event was uncertain, Djokovic was not really likely during this SW19 trip, and he will undoubtedly be the same for Murray, who tested his hip in three games with respectable results at Queen's Club and Eastbourne. More of the same is expected for the tough courts of Washington, Toronto and Cincinnati.

"I did not expect to get back on my feet so quickly," said the Serb. "If you asked after Roland Garros, I might have doubted it."

Djokovic spent the night on Sunday with Angelique Kerber at the Ball of Champions. Hopefully it will not be too long before his usual dance partner starts moving again.

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