By Chris Oddo / Thursday, December 26, 2013

 

Andy Murray began his long road back from back surgery with a straight-sets loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

Photo Source: AP

Andy Murray fell to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi, but the reigning Wimbledon champion was pleased with his performance in his first competitive match in over three months.

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After undergoing surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back on Sept. 23, Murray has spent time rehabilitating in Great Britain and Miami, while racking up numerous post-season accolades for his curse-shattering victory at Wimbledon in 2013. Murray became the first man from Great Britian to win at the All England Club since 1936, but later in the season his back became such a problem that Murray elected to pull the plug on his season and opt for surgery.

Three months later the cycle will begin again for the 26-year-old and two-time Grand Slam champion.

“I feel pretty fresh mentally going into the new season,” Murray told Sport 360. “That’s one of the things when you’re on the tour and you don’t have any breaks, there’s a lot of traveling, you go to the same tournaments, the same places and that can become quite repetitive. So it was nice in some ways to be away for a couple of months and hopefully, I will be nice and fresh for the new season.”

Murray was broken in the final game of the first set by Tsonga, and despite taking the early break in the second set, was broken twice more to fall 7-5, 6-3.

“I moved well in the first set, especially once I got into the rallies," he said. "I didn't feel slow at all. In the second I slowed down slightly but that's something that is going to get better by playing matches. I can't expect to feel great for long periods of matches straightaway.”

Despite the loss, Murray remains sanguine about his future, both short and long term.  “It was a good workout,” he said after the match. “You want to play your best but you need to be realistic and patient. I will play better tomorrow than I did today.”

Tsonga struggled with injuries as well down the stretch in 2013. After reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and then the semifinals at Roland Garros, he was forced with withdraw from Wimbledon with a knee injury that caused him to miss the US Open, too.

He claims to have been pain free for the last month, and feels hopeful that his new arrangement with dual coaches Nicolas Escude and Thierry Ascione will pay big dividends in 2014. “I changed my staff, so I have a new team with me,” Tsonga told Sport 360. “For a couple of weeks now we’ve worked on my body and my tennis. Everything is going well. I’m sure I will be a better player than last year, so I’m very excited about the new season.”

Tsonga has slipped to No. 10 in the world after missing much of the second half of 2013.

Both Murray and Tsonga hope to be in tip-top shape when the Australian Open begins in just over two weeks. Murray will get another chance to rediscover his touch when he plays Stan Wawrinka in the fifth-place match at Abu Dhabi, while Tsonga will take on Novak Djokovic in the semifinals on Friday.

(Photo credit: Peter Staples)