Tennis news - Andy Murray to make surgery call 'in the next week'

Murray has been struggling with a hip problem since reaching the Roland Garros semi-finals in June 2017, not appearing at a tournament between Wimbledon that summer and Queen’s Club in June 2018.

However, he has struggled to maintain his fitness since his comeback last summer and revealed prior to the Australian Open that the tournament could be his last.

Following his five-set defeat to the No.22 seed, he explained the two choices that lie ahead of him.

“One is to take the next four and a half months off, then build up, you know, play Wimbledon,” he said in his press conference.

“Look, I mean, although tonight was not comfortable in terms of my hip. At the end, I mean, I’m really struggling. I can’t walk properly at all just now.

“I’m still in pain doing just basic day-to-day things. But having an operation like that, there’s absolutely no guarantees I’d be able to play again. I’m fully aware of that.

“I mean... I’ll probably decide in the next week or so. But that’s what I was saying the other day, that this might be my last match.

“If I go ahead with the operation, I don’t recover well from it, then I don’t play again. I’m aware of that. That is the decision that I have to make.

“It will improve my quality of life, I’ll be in less pain doing just, you know, normal things like walking around and putting your shoes and socks on and things.

“Just now, like, going to walk my dogs, playing football with my friends, is like the worst thing I can think of doing. Like I hate it because it’s so sore and it’s uncomfortable.

“Yeah, waiting another five or six months to do something like that is just another, you know, period of where I’m really uncomfortable.”

Murray fought back from two sets to love down before rallying to take Bautista Agut to a fifth set before eventually succumbing to defeat. Following the match, he received a rapturous reception from the Melbourne crowd and was shown a video with top players from the men’s and women’s game wishing him all the best.

“But, you know, if today was my last match, look, it was a brilliant way to finish, as well. That’s something that I’ll probably take into consideration, as well.

“It was an amazing atmosphere. I literally gave everything that I had on the court, fought as best as I could, and performed a lot better than what I should have done without the amount I’ve been able to practice and train, you know, whatever. I’d be okay with that being my last match.”

Having the surgery would open the door to Murray making a comeback to tennis in the future but he was unsure of what sort of timeframe that would involve.

“The reason for having, like I said the other day, for having the operation first and foremost is to improve your quality of life.

“You have to allow bones to heal and muscles to recover properly to give the operation the best chance of improving your quality of life.

“So me trying to get on a tennis court after two months and stuff just because I’m trying to get ready for Wimbledon might not be the best thing for my health in the future.

“So I need to kind of, if I have it, like just let it be, do the rehab properly, respect healing times, not rush anything. I mean, I don’t know exactly how long it would be.”