Andy Murray undergoes hip surgery and targets return in time for Wimbledon

Andy Murray has undergone hip surgery and hopes to return to tennis in time for Wimbledon.

Murray, 30, has not played competitively since his defeat to Sam Querrey at SW19 last July with a persistent hip problem forcing him to withdraw from the US Open and the season-ending ATP World Tour finals in London.

The former world number one, who last week pulled out of the Brisbane International and the Australian Open, initially saw surgery as a "secondary option" but after considering his options, felt going under the knife was necessary to extend his career.

"The reason for having it done was to allow me to get back competing," Murray said, the Daily Telegraph report. "Because that's what I want to keep doing and I'm not finished playing tennis yet."

He continued: "I'm very optimistic. The surgeon was very happy about how it went. He felt that my hip will be feeling better than it did a year ago. Obviously, I was still doing fine a year ago. I was ranked No.1 in the world a year ago."

Murray hopes to be hitting balls again in the next seven to eight weeks but insists he will not be tempted to rush back inyto action.

"I'm certainly not going to rush anything. I'm not going to try to get back as quickly as I can. And I'm going to take my time to make sure that the rehab is done properly, and make sure that the surgery is as successful as it can be.

"I've been quoted times for how long it's taken for players to get back from the surgery I've had and have been told it's up to 14 weeks. But I'm going to take as long as I need to take before I get back on the court."

A frustrating 2017 for Murray saw him win just one title in Dubai. His best performance in a Grand Slam came at the French Open, where he was eliminated at the semi-final stage.