The post-operation optimism surrounding Andy Murray has faded away a bit.
It’s now five months since he went under the knife after pulling out of the Australian Open.
The suggestion was he would be back for the grass court season but still no official date for a comeback has been announced.
Murray was quite right to say he wouldn’t be back on tour until he was 100% fit, and rightly so.
But you wouldn’t rate the chances of him being back at Wimbledon very highly now.
The grass court season is quite a short one and if he doesn’t get back for that, you would have to doubt whether he’d go straight into playing on hard courts.
My own hip injury has given me an idea of how the odds are stacked against him.
The specialist told me our operations were similar, although I think the damage in mine ended up being a bit worse.
He said that the big issue after hip surgery like ours is quick directional change.
Thankfully, for me, curling isn’t that type of sport but it basically sums tennis up.
Just to get back playing recreational tennis would have its challenges, let alone compete with the best in the world day after day, week after week, month after month.
I’m still pretty sure we’ll see him back on a tennis court.
But the longer Murray’s absence goes past the hoped for comeback date, the more we have to fear that he won’t ever get near to his best again.
* A UK Sport report has found that nearly one in three Olympic and Paralympic athletes have experienced or witnessed “unacceptable behaviour” in their elite programme.
I wasn’t one of the hundreds of athletes who participated in the survey but it’s a worrying statistic.
I guess it isn’t a great shock given all the bullying scandals that have come out.
Unless you’ve experienced bullying or seen it – which thankfully I never have – it’s hard to give an educated opinion on it.
I can totally understand how people would find it hard to come forward, though.
Let’s face it, you would be worried about funding and selection being put in jeopardy.
You often find that when bullying claims get investigated it is after that athlete has dropped out of the sport.
If complaints can be fast-tracked, that would be a step in the right direction.
* I’d like to wish wheelchair curler Angela Malone a happy retirement.
Anybody who bows out as a double World Champion and a four-time Winter Paralympian can say they’ve had a great career.
She has been a great ambassador for curling and I’m sure she won’t be lost to the sport.
* That’s me back down in Stirling and I’m not on the crutches anymore.
It’s only been a couple of weeks since my operation but everybody’s happy with the progress and I’ve got a meeting planned to plan the next couple of months of rehab.
We’ll also be looking at the curling side of things to map out the direction the team wants to go in.
