STARNBERG, December 1, 2019

Former world No.1 Andy Murray has admitted he may have been putting up a front in order to hide how badly he was suffering after sustaining a chronic hip injury.

The Englishman has undergone two surgeries and says he’s finally over the hump following a career-saving operation in January. And, previously on the cusp of retirement, Murray is now ready to test himself at the 2020 Australian Open.

The tennis star was actually set to lay his injury nightmare bare at a press conference before his match against Roberto Bautista Agut in January but broke down in tears as his emotions overpowered him in front of the cameras.

A documentary detailing his ordeal dropped on Amazon Prime this past Friday and, speaking at the screening, he admitted that he wasn’t being exactly truthful when he faced questions over his hip problems in the past.

“Up until that point when I had been asked [about the injury], my closest family, friends and my team knew I was really struggling,” he said, per the Daily Express. “As a professional athlete when you turn up at tournaments, for example, you get asked by the media or fellow players and coaches ‘how is your hip doing’.

“I’m not going to say to someone that I might be playing the following day that ‘my hip feels terrible. I can’t run to my forehand and can’t serve’ because I might play them the next day.

“So you are always putting on a bit of a front and a brave face to sort of say ‘I’m doing a little bit better and hip is feeling good’.

“But that wasn’t actually the case and in Australia that was sort of the first time, I had opened up to everyone and said how much I have been struggling and how I was feeling. “And that was a really important moment for me because the support and everything from the tennis community was amazing. [It] helped a lot in that period and I needed it.”

Murray is also down to participate in the inaugural ATP Cup in Australia which starts on January 3. As for the Australian Open, he says he doesn’t expect to win it but will consider his involvement a success if he’s able to go through a five-set match without feeling pain in his hip.

The 32-year-old is 25/1 to win the tournament with Bet365 but you could get 33/1 with Boyle Sports. Novak Djokovic is the favorite at 7/4 while Rafael Nadal and Danil Medvedev are at 7/2 and 10/1 respectively.

Skybet are offering 8/1 odds on Roger Federer and Stefano Tsitsipas is 11/1 with Betvictor. You could also grab 12/1 odds on Dominic Thiem with Ladbrokes, who also have odds of 20/1 running on Alexander Zverev.

If you’re looking for more immediate tennis betting odds, you could also check out Pinnacle Sports. The bookmakers are handy with odds on ongoing tournaments in the lead up to the upcoming Grand Slam and should have bets going around when that tournament kicks off too.