Andy Murray admits to ‘butterflies’ after winning Queen’s return

Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray suggested he wanted ‘the nerves and the butterflies in the stomach’ after making his competitive return to tennis with an impressive victory in the Queen’s doubles.

The Scot was on court alongside Spain’s Feliciano Lopez at the Fever-Tree Championships, with the duo winning their match 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 against Colombian top seeds Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal.

Just five months ago at the Australian Open, Murray suggested he was likely to retire this summer, but should now be fit enough for a farewell appearance at Wimbledon.

He had a hip operation after Melbourne and has recently suggested he feels like a ‘new man’ following the procedure. Having previously developed something of an on-court limp before surgery, Murray looked fit and agile at Queen’s and he was clearly delighted to take victory over one of the world’s top doubles pairs.

“It was brilliant. I enjoyed it a lot,” Murray told BBC Sport. “I was a bit slow at the beginning and got better as the match went on. “I’m fortunate to be back playing again.

“Leading up to the match I was quite relaxed but I was a bit nervous when we started walking to the court. “You want the nerves and the butterflies in the stomach and I had that.”

He’s due back on court on Friday for a quarter-final match and Murray is relishing that, insisting there were no ill-effects after his competitive return.

“I have zero discomfort in my hip after the match. Nothing. And if I had done this last year, I’d be here aching, throbbing, and feel bad the next day,” he added.

“So I’ll just keep pushing and see how it goes. But I feel optimistic about the future. I don’t know how long it will take to get to that level, but, hopefully not too long.”