Andy Murray defeated the current World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz at the 2021 Indian Wells Masters – he made a cheeky metal hip reference recently.
ATP World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz is on an incredible run of form and appears to be unbeatable at the moment. The teenager won the recently concluded Indian Wells Masters, defeating Daniil Medvedev in the final and regained the top spot in men’s Tennis.
Referring to his dominance in the tournament, a fan on Twitter wrote: “I will forever be proud of the fact Andy Murray beat Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells that one time.” The tweet received a reply from Murray himself, who responded: “With a metal hip.”
Murray made an obvious reference to the encounter between the two at the 2021 Indian Wells, when the veteran came back from a set down to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Murray was playing with a ‘metal hip‘ having undergone two hip surgeries previously in 2018 and 2019.
The British star initially had arthroscopic hip surgery but the pain persisted and a year later he had hip resurfacing surgery. The hip resurfacing surgery involves attaching a metal cap to the ball in the hip after the ball has been smoothed down. Once that’s done, a metal strip is put in the pelvic socket to set it into place and that’s what Murray refers to as a ‘metal hip’.
Carlos Alcaraz has regained the No.1 ranking in men’s Tennis after registering a sublime victory against Daniil Medvedev in the final of the Indian Wells Masters. The 19-year-old has been in sublime touch since making a comeback from injury last month. With Murray, Nadal and Djokovic in the twilight of their careers, the teenager certainly looks like a dominating force in world tennis for years to come.
Alcaraz has been breaking records at a rapid pace and recently became the second fastest World No.1 to reach 100 professional wins after his victory against Tallon Griekspoor at the Indian Wells Masters. He is now part of an elite list comprising some of the most iconic names in the history of the sport. Alcaraz has taken 132 matches to register 100 wins, second only behind John McEnroe (131). The other top names featuring in this list are Andre Agassi (135), Rafael Nadal (137), Mats Wilander (138) and Boris Becker (140).
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