The month of May was meant to be a joyous occasion for Andy Murray as he made his long-awaited return to tennis after almost a year of being out the game. You would have to go back to Wimbledon 2017 to find the last time the Scot was in action on a tennis court. Murray sustained a hip injury during the tournament and subsequently had to spend the 11 months that followed on the sidelines.
 
That’s why his return was meant to signal the beginning of the second half of his career as he set out to claim more trophies with a new vigor and appreciation for the game he possibly once took for granted. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Murray will return as expected after what looks to be a new setback during rehabilitation.
 
If Murray had come back at Loughborough this month in an ATP Challenger Tour event, it would have been a long way behind schedule as Murray envisioned his comeback to be a lot sooner. Given now that it looks like he won’t even return to play at Loughborough after all that has happened, there needs to be a few questions asked about the 30-year-old’s future.

For instance, when he does come back, what type of player is he going to be after this layoff, because this isn’t a run of the mill hamstring injury he’s coming back from. Murray is desperately trying to shake this hip problem off but it’s obviously at the stage where it’s now career threatening.
 
The worst case scenario is that Murray won’t return but his mom Judy has allayed any fears of the happening this week by saying "he’s still got a lot of things he wants to achieve in tennis". That may be so but whether he is physically able to achieve those things is another matter entirely. Mothers are always supportive and go out of their way to say things that reflect their children in a good light, so Murray fans will be hoping that Judy Murray isn’t being a typical loving mom but, rather, a realist.
 
The big question now is whether Andy Murray will be able to play in Wimbledon this year. He was meant to play in a few smaller events to warm up but it looks more likely now that, should Murray return, it will be at Wimbledon without having played much, if at all, in the build up. His injury doesn’t look like it has affected his chances of winning at the All England Club. William Hill has the Scot second favorite at 11/2 to win and that would be some achievement given what he has gone through.

It’s hard to say for sure what is going on with Murray and if he’s just being overly cautious or he's actually battling a problem that has the potential to plague him throughout the remainder of his career. Murray fans will be hoping it’s the former and it could well be, but recent developments have suggested there’s more going on than what meets the eye. The alarming discovery is that it seems this is also surprising Murray, which could indicate that he and his team have underestimated the severity of this problem.