Andy Murray sorts out his ankle and racket – and is raring to face old rival Stan Wawrinka

Andy Murray arrived at Roland Garros in dubious form, after a pair of straight-sets defeats against players ranked outside the world’s top 80. But he was in a surprisingly upbeat mood, perhaps because he had feared not making it at all.

‌When Murray’s ankle turned over in Miami, rupturing two ligaments on the outside of his left foot, the initial prognosis was for 10 to 12 weeks out – which could have endangered his participation at Wimbledon, let alone Roland Garros.

But Murray, 37, chose the non-interventionist approach – strengthening and rehab – ahead of an operation, and the process went so smoothly that he nearly declared himself fit for Rome three weeks ago.

“Initially, it was looking pretty unlikely,” said Murray on Friday. “It is always difficult with injuries because you never know how well they heal, but it was looking like 10 to 12 weeks and therefore I probably wouldn’t have been able to play.

“But I worked extremely hard every single day with my team and physio, there were no breaks or holidays. I was surprised with that because I could quite easily have felt sorry for myself, taken a break and not done the rehab. I’m proud of that. I worked really hard and that’s one of the reasons why I was able to come back a bit sooner than anticipated.”

One way that Murray kept his spirits up was by tinkering with his strings and racket-frame. Before catching the flight home from Miami, he limped to a sports shop and picked out no fewer than 10 different models, plus a swingweight machine and a roll of lead tape for subtle adjustments.

“I’ve been playing with the same racket for 20 years and in that time things change,” he said this week. The experimentation was clearly enjoyable. Dan Evans revealed that he and Murray had been discussing these details during training sessions at Roehampton’s National Tennis Centre, and any teething troubles in the adjustment to a new Yonex Ezone 100 “would not be for the lack of testing, that’s for sure”.

As Murray explained on Friday: “I don’t want to finish my career thinking ‘should I have given it a go to see whether or not that was something that could have potentially helped me?’ It was something that kept me occupied during some of the rehab and I found a racket that I really like.”

He also made it clear that any lapse in the previous racket deal with Head had not come from his end.

And what about the draw, which has thrown up a meeting with 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, one of the few men at the French Open who, at 39, is even older than Murray? Bizarrely, this match on Sunday will be the third consecutive match that Murray has played against Wawrinka at Roland Garros.

The first in the sequence was the 2017 semi-final that left both men nursing long-term injuries. The second was a depressing first-rounder in 2019, in which Murray was still hoping, for no good reason other than sheer bloody-mindednes, that his ravaged hip would be able to handle professional tennis. And now this one, which, with any luck, should throw up a joyful occasion and a worthy send-off.

“I first played against him when I was 18 in the Davis Cup,” said Murray, “and then competed against him in some of the biggest tournaments and big matches over the years. It is incredible that he is still competing at the highest level at 39 years old.

“It is great that we get the opportunity to play against each other. It should be a brilliant atmosphere. It is a good match for both of us I think. He has obviously had an amazing career and it is a pleasure to get to play against him in another slam.”

This was a warm endorsement, but Murray remains haunted by the aftermath of that 2017 semi-final. He lost in five tough sets and was never the same player again. “It was [the last straw for my hip],” he said. “I remember before the quarter-final match I played against [Kei] Nishikori that something wasn’t right. I had had issues with my hip for a really long time and if you look at some of my results in the year leading up to that I’d lost multiple matches from two sets to one up.

“As the longer matches were going on I was having issues moving and driving up to serve. I remember during that match, the fifth set, feeling I was unable to move. I couldn’t sleep that night, my hip was in so much pain.

“I remember getting up in the night, I was lying on the sofa in loads of pain. I never recovered. I couldn’t extend my leg behind me properly after that match. It was a shame.”