Officially, Andy Murray has had a hip “resurfacing” but, since he has a new ball and a new socket, we can call it a hip replacement. So how is it that Andy Murray is playing professional tennis after a hip replacement? And so soon?

This is partly a story of advancing surgical techniques – return to elite sport would have been impossible twenty years ago – but is also a story of individual conditioning.

Most people who have hip replacement surgery have had years of decreasing activity, meaning that their muscles are in a bad way. Indeed, muscular pain can be a significant contributor to the overall symptoms associated with degenerative joints.

But Andy Murray has had years of training the muscles around his hips and pelvis to work at the highest possible level. These muscles will be phenomenally strong, but he will also have fantastic control of them, ie. a high level of muscular coordination.

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Starting from a higher level will invariably make recovery from joint replacement surgery more rapid. Starting in better shape also means that the trough following surgery is not as deep.

There is a lesson to the rest of us here that, even if a joint replacement is inevitable, keep working on your conditioning and trying to improve your muscles; your recovery will be that much better for it.

Andy Murray’s successful return to play is also testament to hard work. You don’t get to play elite tennis without being pretty tenacious, and I am sure this mentality would spill over into Andy Murray’s approach to rehabilitation.

It may be monotonous, but the more you persevere during rehabilitation, doing more repetitions and perfecting technique, the higher the level of post-operative function you will achieve.

Andy Murray’s return to tennis is not only incredible, it should also be inspiring, showing us how much function can be regained following major surgery if the approach is right.