Andy Murray is showing signs of life as a singles player. And when I mean signs of life, I mean signs of his old self. We’re a few tournaments into his singles comeback and in his last effort at the China Open he delivered two solid wins, one of them against the 13^th ranked player in the world and recent US Open semifinalist Berrettini. He disposed of him in the first round, then took out fellow Brit Cameron Norrie before falling to Thiem, the eventual champion in two hard fought sets. Murray says he’s feeling no pain after the hip surgery.

It shows in his game, as he seems to be moving laterally and forward and back with a quickness not seen in him for years. Murray will be playing the Shanghai Masters, and I’d be looking for him to make a little bit of noise given the fact that his first-round opponent is qualifier Londero. From there, he could face Fognini in the second and potentially Khachanov in the third. Although tough matches in both the second and third rounds, those are totally winnable for Murray. That is of course until he runs into one of the favorites, and the hottest player on tour right now Medvedev. A third round or quarterfinal showing would do wonders for Murray’s preparation. He’s got his sights on 2020 and given his enthusiasm and new “no expectations” approach to the game I would imagine he’s going to be dangerous. That is of course if the hip agrees with him. And so far, it seems to be 100%.

This is great for tennis though. Andy is only 32 years old, and I imagine he’s been on the sidelines the last couple of years looking at Roger, Rafa and Novak pick up slam after the age of thirty. There’s no reason why he can’t get into the party as well. Given his talent and his game, he’s got another three solid years as a top player. Whether he wins another slam or not, who knows. I’m just happy to see him playing so well again. I’d forgotten how good he was!