"I think that's a step too far" - Tim Henman on Andy Murray's ability to compete in five-set matches

Former British Tennis pro Tim Henman believes that while Andy Murray has made progress since his return to the tour following surgery, the Scot might not be ready to compete in multiple best-of-five set matches with limited recovery.

With the US Open set to begin on August 30, Murray will be competing in his first Grand Slam event since Wimbledon, where he lost in the third round. The 34-year old withdrew from the singles event at the Olympics with a thigh injury, although he did compete in men's doubles.

“We can’t really judge where Andy’s level is at unless he plays three, six, nine months of tournament tennis," Henman stated. "If he’s able to do that I think he can improve his level significantly from where he’s at now.

“Can he compete best-of-five-set matches in Slams and come back with the recovery? I think that may be a step too far but certainly on the tour and in the ATP Masters I definitely think he can be competitive.”

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Following the Olympics, Murray competed in Cincinnati where he lost in the second round. However, Henman believes that Murray's improvement is evident, adding that the former World No.1 must remain injury-free if he hopes to remain competitive on the ATP Tour.

"I think his recovery has been great. You want to look at his trajectory of his path of improvement, and the way he played at Cincinnati last week,” added Henman. "The biggest challenge is whether he can stay injury-free, he’s been so stop-start for the last four years.”

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