Andy Murray has undergone hip resurfacing surgery in London, the British tennis great told his Instagram followers on Tuesday.
The two-time Wimbledon champion had been weighing up the pros and cons of the operation, which involves putting a metal plate into the joint, in one last bid to prolong a career plagued by injury.
The 31-year-old double Olympic gold medallist had previously said ahead of this month’s Australian Open earlier that he intended to retire following the 2019 edition of Wimbledon.
“I underwent a hip resurfacing surgery in London yesterday (Monday) morning… feeling a bit battered and bruised just now but hopefully that will be the end of my hip pain,” Murray said on Instagram.
There are no guarantees that the operation will allow Murray to play top-flight tennis again but it should enable him to live a pain-free life off the court.
At the Australian Open, Murray showed his competitive spirit and talent were undimmed in a five-set defeat by Roberto Bautista-Agut.
Monday’s operation was the second time Murray had undergone surgery in the past 12 months after a first operation failed to ease the pain in his hip.
