Wimbledon 2018: Andy Murray’s biggest challenge is mental and not physical, says Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic believes that the biggest challenges Andy Murray will face as he begins his comeback here this week will be mental rather than physical.

Forty-nine weeks after limping out of Wimbledon and five months after undergoing hip surgery, Murray will return to competition at the Fever Tree Championships, where he will play his first match on Tuesday against Nick Kyrgios. Having pulled out of his scheduled comeback tournament in the Netherlands last week, the Scot decided to play here shortly before the draw was made on Saturday.

Djokovic, who will be playing at Queen’s for the first time since 2010 after accepting a late wild card, has had his own physical difficulties over the last two years. Having been troubled by a long-term elbow problem, the Serb took off the last six months of 2017 to rest it but was still struggling when he returned to competition in January.

Following surgery after the Australian Open, Djokovic still looked well below his best, though he found some form by the end of the clay-court season, even if he was disappointed to lose to Marco Cecchinato in the French Open quarter-finals. During his time out Djokovic also modified parts of his game in order to cope with his elbow problem.

“I think the biggest challenge will always be mental,” Djokovic said when asked about Murray. “In my situation that was the case. How to get it out of your head, to understand that it’s behind you, that you’re fine now, you’re healthy and you can focus on your game rather than thinking 50 per cent of the time when you’re on the court about whether something can happen.

“You’re thinking: ‘Does it hurt me? Does it not hurt me? Am I imagining things? Is it real? ‘Is it not real?’ Then 50 per cent of the time you are thinking about your tactics and what you have to execute. If you don’t have mental clarity on the court, especially on grass where everything happens very quickly, it’s very difficult to play.”

Djokovic added: “I never knew that it was going to take so much time to get back in that state of mind where I’m comfortable, where I’m confident with my game and with the changes that I’ve made. It’s a new experience and I’m open to that. I have to embrace it. I have to accept it.

“It’s frustrating at times to know that maybe I’m not able to execute what I was doing so well for so many years before. But those are the circumstances that are present and hopefully will change. Everything in life is evolving, changing, and I’m working daily to be able to get closer to that perfect game scenario that I would like to have.

“In his case he has been absent for longer than I have. Hips, I don’t know how difficult it feels for him to deal with that. I don’t know how painful it is still - or not - for him to move around.

“I wish him all the best. Tennis misses him. He’s a great champion a great guy, really dedicated, hard-working, great ethics and has a great team around him. I really hope to see him back playing at that level that he had played in the last couple of years.”

Marin Cilic, who has played in three of the last six finals at Queen’s and won the title here in 2012, said that grass was “probably the most difficult surface” on which to make a comeback after a serious injury.

“Just in terms of movement you can be exposed,” Cilic said. “Andy hasn’t played for 12 months now and even though he’s one of the guys who finds playing on grass the most natural, I think it’s going to be a bit more difficult for him to find his ground and find his movement.”

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Djokovic, nevertheless, thinks that in Murray’s case grass is a good choice. “First of all he’s very comfortable on grass. I don’t want to put my words in his mouth, but seeing his results he has felt great on the grass and always played very well.

“It’s also at home. He needs that support. He needs people to back him up, to be behind him and show him that he was missed. I know how that feels.

“Having a couple of weeks at home and playing, these are the events where he will give his 100 per cent to try to get out on the court and be in condition to play. Probably more than anywhere else.

“The one thing – again, I don’t know the state of his hips – that could be a bit dangerous is slipping on the grass. That’s something that is very unpredictable and grass is always this kind of surface where one wrong-footing can make something go wrong, especially in the hips. I just hope for his sake that that doesn’t happen.”

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Murray made his decision to go ahead with his comeback after splitting sets in a practice match on Friday afternoon against his fellow Briton, Cameron Norrie, who faces Stan Wawrinka in his opening match here on Monday.

Norrie said that Murray had played well. “Obviously he hasn’t played many matches, so I think there were a couple of points here and there where he wasn’t quite on it,” Norrie said. “But he’s hitting the ball well and he’s moving great.” The world No 79 added: “We organised it like a proper match. We went at it. It was a good level. There was no mercy.”

Djokovic thinks that Murray will not be lacking in motivation. “Coming back after a major injury is something that inspires you in a way, brings you that motivation,” the Serb said. “You breathe in a new breath of life in a way, you feel like you have restarted your career in a way. I'm sure that he's more motivated than ever to go out there.