Goran Ivanisevic believes Andy Murray has "no chance" of winning another Grand Slam
What's the story?
Amid the release of Andy Murray's documentary which covers his turbulent last few years and injury horrors, former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic has remarked that Murray has "no chance" of winning another Grand Slam.
In case you didn't know...
In 2012, Murray became the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win a Grand Slam. He continued this success by winning a further two (both at Wimbledon) and reaching World No. 1 in the rankings.
However, this success was dramatically halted by a hip injury which resulted in the Scot having multiple surgeries. At the start of 2019, Murray announced that he would be taking an indefinite break from the sport to deal with the hip problem.
The heart of the matter
Murray had a hip resurfacing surgery in January, which involved the insertion of a metal cup his pelvis. Since then he has made a mini-comeback to men's tennis, and he won his first title in over two years at the European Open in Stockholm.
But he is still way below the level he once was and Ivanisevic, while speaking at the Royal Albert Hall, dismissed the Scot's chances of ever getting back to the Slam-winning circle.
"A Slam? No chance. He can make some surprises, he can go far but to win I don't think that he can survive seven matches - best-of-five," Ivanisevic said.
Though it may seem unfair for Ivanisevic to completely write off Murray's chances, it is not difficult to see why he said what he said.
Even at peak health winning a Grand Slam is hard enough, as you inevitably have to go through the Big 3. Despite winning three Grand Slams during his career, Murray often struggled against Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the biggest of stages.
Furthermore, at 32 he is well past his prime, and to make matters worse he also has the NextGen to deal with.
If Murray were to win another Slam, it would be nothing short of a miracle and would probably go down as the greatest comeback story in men's tennis. However, the chances of that happening are slim at best.
What's next?
It cannot be stressed enough how serious and potentially career-ending Murray's injuries were; the fact that he won an ATP 250 event was a huge achievement in itself. The year 2020 will tell us a lot about where he is at in terms of health and playing levels.
It remains to be seen whether Murray can prove Ivanisevic wrong, and actually win a Slam again.