The world’s most expensive player appears to have recovered fully from the fractured foot that required an operation in March, with the only slight concern being his possible lack of match fitness.

Since suffering the injury in Paris Saint-Germain’s game against Marseille in late February, Neymar has managed just 129 minutes on the field.

But those minutes came in Brazil’s recent warm-up friendlies, with a goal from the bench against Croatia and then a brilliant strike in a win in Austria last weekend.

“After three months, and having played just a game and a half, he is already playing at a high level. Nobody expected that. Not even him,” Thiago Silva, a close friend of Neymar’s and a club teammate at PSG, said in a report on Brazilian website Globoesporte.

The 26-year-old, who saw his time on the sidelines as one of the lowest points in his career so far, has looked in excellent spirits this week as Tite’s Brazil squad settle into their Russian base — the speculation about his club future, and links with Real Madrid, seem far away right now.

– Home from home –

Neymar has been laughing and joking with his teammates on the training pitch in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, and took time to sign autographs and pose for pictures with supporters at an open training session on Tuesday.

He will be in the starting line-up in Rostov-on-Don, for what will be his first game at a World Cup since being taken off with a fractured vertebra in Brazil’s win against Colombia as hosts in the 2014 quarter-finals.

And Neymar’s importance in this new-look team — he is one of only six survivors from four years ago — is clear from the comments of his teammates in Sochi.

“Neymar is great, thanks to God,” goalkeeper Alisson replied to one question about their talisman, while Gabriel Jesus spoke of his admiration for the former Barcelona man.

“I got to know Neymar personally at the Olympics. He treated me very well, and not only me, also my family and friends too,” he said.

“He is important off the field as well. He is always giving advice. That is very important. I really believe that having a good relationship, considering one as a brother, lifts you on the field. You run more for your friend.”

Brazil came to Russia among the favourites as they look to put firmly behind them the 7-1 semi-final humiliation against Germany four years ago.

While fellow contenders Spain have threatened to implode with the sacking of coach Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the competition, Neymar and the Brazilians are relaxed and at home in pleasant surroundings in Sochi.

The lush green coastline and sea views are reminiscent of Brazil, the Selecao have been enjoying dining with views out over the Black Sea, and they also have access to the beach.

It augurs well for Tite’s side as they prepare to face a Swiss outfit ranked sixth in the world in their first Group E game before tackling Costa Rica and Serbia.

Winning a sixth World Cup is the objective, but Neymar will also have personal aims.

Last weekend he scored his 55th international goal, moving level with Romario in Brazil’s all-time list. There are now only two players left ahead of him.

A great tournament and he could catch Ronaldo’s tally of 62, before eventually targeting the 77 scored by Pele.

“I would say that it’s going to happen. Neymar doesn’t just have playing well as an objective, he is always looking to score goals,” Ronaldo, in Russia on media duty, told Brazilian television.

While Manuel Neuer finally won his lengthy fitness battle after more than eight months out, Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan were jeered by Germany fans in recent friendlies after posing for a photograph alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos said what is discussed on talk shows should not concern the players, adding: “We are here to play football.”

The form of Joachim Loew’s side is another concern though, an unconvincing win over a Saudi Arabia outfit thrashed 5-0 in the World Cup opener represents Germany’s lone victory since romping through qualifying with maximum points.

“We need the greed, the fire — it’s part of what makes things go off with a bang sometimes in training and on the playing pitch. We will have to fight for every inch,” said defender Jerome Boateng.

“I think we’re known as a team that starts well,” he added, saying he feels “better from day to day” after returning from a groin injury.

Germany defeated Mexico 4-1 on the way to lifting last year’s Confederations Cup trophy but Kroos believes that result is of little significance now.

“We shouldn’t underestimate them, even if it was a clear win at the Confederations Cup last year. We’re taking this very, very seriously and, once more for emphasis, because it’s our first game at the World Cup.”

Germany are trying to become the first team in 56 years to successfully defend their title, after Brazil in 1962, but Mexico defender Carlos Salcedo believes their Group F opponents are not invincible.

– ‘No one is unbeatable’ –

“We speak a lot about them and we consider them clearly superior,” said Salcedo, who signed a four-year deal with Eintracht Frankfurt in May after spending the past season on loan with the Bundesliga club.

“But no one is unbeatable. In football, the difference between levels has decreased and there are lots of other factors.

“There are just two or three players who can score two or three goals per game, (Lionel) Messi, (Cristiano) Ronaldo and Neymar, who can shake things up with a stroke of individual genius.”

Like Germany, Mexico qualified with ease for a seventh consecutive World Cup after punching their ticket to the finals with three matches to spare.

Rafael Marquez, who will retire after the tournament, is set to become just the third player — after compatriot Antonio Carbajal and Germany’s Lothar Matthaus — to feature at five World Cups.

But a number of Mexico players found themselves embroiled in controversy following a farewell party with about 30 prostitutes ahead of their departure for Europe.

Nine members of the World Cup squad reportedly partied with the women at a private compound in Mexico City following the team’s 1-0 win over Scotland earlier this month.

Mexican officials ruled out sanctions against the players involved because they attended the party in their free time, but the incident echoed similar scandals in recent years.

Poulsen made amends after conceding a first-half penalty that was awarded after the referee consulted the VAR system, but which Peru midfielder Christian Cueva blasted over the crossbar.

“It was an emotional game, especially for me after giving away the penalty,” admitted the 24-year-old man-of-the-match.

“I thought I was the bad guy, but then I was the good guy after scoring — that’s the way football is.

“I’m grateful, we fought very well and gave it everything we had.”

Poulsen showed great finishing to hit the winner on 59 minutes to the dismay of the overwhelmingly Peruvian crowd in the 40,502-capacity stadium.

The win extends Denmark’s unbeaten run to 16 games without defeat and end sPeru’s 15-match unbeaten streak.

Peru veteran Paolo Guerrero, who only made it to Russia after a late reprieve for a drug ban, came on for the final 30 minutes, but his efforts at the Mordovia Arena came to no avail.

Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel played a key role with a string of second-half saves.

“He’s acrobatic, he’s fast on his feet and his goal-line play is probably one of the best in the world – you have to acknowledge his performance,” said Denmark’s coach Age Hareide.

Authorities in Lima estimate around 25,000 fans flew to Russia to see their team’s return to the World Cup and Saransk was a sea of Peru shirts.

– ‘Luckless’ Peru –

Their chants were near-deafening on occasion, as were the whistles each time Denmark had the ball or dared to attack.

“We were a little bit afraid of the atmosphere and the intensity of it, that affected us,” admitted Hareide.

As a result, Peru dominated the opening 25 minutes, but after weathering the early storm, the Danes started to push forward.

They had to bring on Ajax’s Lasse Schone with 36 minutes gone when central midfielder William Kvist was stretchered off with a suspected broken rib.

Hareide expects the midfielder to be ruled out of the rest of the tournament.

When Poulsen clipped Cueva’s boot on 45 minutes, referee Bakary Gassama checked with the VAR.

He soon pointed to the spot for the second penalty awarded through the system of the day after France had also benefited against Australia.

Cueva took the spot-kick himself but, to Poulsen’s relief, his effort ballooned over the bar.

Just moments after Peru wasted a clear chance, when Cueva squared to Andre Carrillo who failed to connect, Denmark scored.

The ball was quickly moved forward and Poulsen showed great finishing to beat Gallese.

Guerrero was in the thick of Peru’s bid to get level and his header fell into Schmeichel’s arms five minutes later.

Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen, who netted 11 goals in qualifying for Denmark, had to busy himself in defence to snuff out Guerrero-inspired attacks.

With just over ten minutes left, Guerrero again went agonisingly close when he pushed his shot past the post as Denmark held on.

“It was hard, we hope that in the course of the tournament things will go better,“ said Peru forward Jefferson Farfan.

“We didn’t have the luck to convert our chances.”

With France having beaten Australia 2-1 in Kazan earlier Saturday Denmark are placed second in Group C ahead of their next outing against Australia on Thursday with Peru facing the French.

The 36-year-old Swiss will resume his place at the top of the ATP rankings for the sixth time in his career on Monday, beginning a record 310th week at the summit of the men’s game.

His upward move will leave Rafael Nadal on second as the countdown to Wimbledon intensifies with a fortnight left prior to the start of the grasscourt major.

“I feel great, I’m very happy,” Federer said, adding that playing for the ranking in a smaller event gives the achievement more emphasis.

“It feels different to do it here, I feel really good about it. Getting there, especially with 7-6 in the third-set tiebreaker added extra drama. I’m happy I was able to stay calm and play good tennis at the end.”

Top seed Federer will play for the 98th title of his career on Sunday against Milos Raonic.

The Canadian hammered 19 aces to eliminate defending champion Lucas Pouille 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

Federer stands 10-3 over Raonic, Wimbledon finalist in 2016 against Andy Murray.

The Swiss, who owns 20 Grand Slam singles titles, needed to fight all the way against Kyrgios, playing his first event in two months due to injury.

Federer dropped the opening set in a tiebreaker but roared back in the second with a pair of breaks to level at a set each.

The third set was tight all the way into the tiebreaker, with Federer erasing a 3-1 deficit.

The heavy crowd favourite at the Weissenhof Club earned a match point with a high overhead backhand winner and finished off the popular victory seconds later to the roar of fans after just under two hours.

Federer, who has now passed Nadal twice since February to take back the number one spot, said the excitement factor of the rankings dogfight cannot be overlooked.

“My season starts now. I’m playing next week (Halle) and Wimbledon. We will see about Canada (the Masters event in August).

“I don’t have much (schedule) wiggle room, I’m playing as much as possible.

“There was not a lot of talk about number one over the past four years, it’s been exciting over the last few months.

“These kind of matches (for the top spot) don’t come around so often. It’s great for the fans that it’s been going back and forth (between himself and Nadal). It’s quite fun at the moment.”

Raonic, plagued by injury over the past few seasons, is making his Stuttgart debut.

The Canadian seventh seed feels his game is starting to fire again.

“I have nothing to complain about, everything is going positive,” he said.

“I’m playing better with each match, I’m there at the important moments in the games, that’s an important thing.”

The 35th-ranked Raonic beat the second-seeded Pouille for the third time without a loss in the series and said he is not allowing any thoughts of Queen’s club next week or Wimbledon enter his mind.

“I’m just concentrating on the job to hand, trying to do it well. If I can play well, I’ll be having my chances on the grass.”

The Canadian saved the lone break point he faced while breaking Pouille twice.

“Reaching the final is an important step for me,” he said. “There is a big difference between playing a semi and a final.

“I’m making positive progress, I’m happy with it and hope to keep it up tomorrow.”

Raonic played his last final in May, 2017, losing in Istanbul to Marin Cilic.

His last grass final came at 2016 Wimbledon in a loss to Andy Murray.

A Luka Modric penalty 20 minutes from time and a first-half own goal sealed victory for a Croatia side brimming with technical ability, and the Super Eagles — who brought the youngest squad to Russia — have now won just one of their last 13 games on football’s biggest stage.

“We are disappointed but we must recognise Croatia were better tonight and my young players made some mistakes,” Rohr told reporters after the game in Russia’s European exclave of Kaliningrad.

With rivals Argentina and Iceland only managing a 1-1 draw earlier Saturday in Saransk, both sides had a chance to take control of Group D.

Nigeria, knowing they were always likely to struggle for possession against a central one-two of Modric and Ivan Rakitic, were content to sit back and allow Croatia to come to them.

After 10 minutes, Juventus target man Mario Mandzukic teed up Ivan Perisic at the edge of the area only for the Inter Milan forward to blaze over.

Croatia, semi-finalists at France ’98, have struggled to live up to the lofty expectations borne of an embarrassment of midfield riches, and meekly lost their World Cup opener 3-1 to hosts Brazil four years ago.

There is a sense of now-or-never for the Balkans nation at this tournament and Modric said his side would lift their game when they meet Lionel Messi’s Argentina in their next match.

“It’s going to be a very difficult match. They have huge amounts of quality, but this win will really boost our confidence and we are going to up our game.”

The last time Croatia won their opening group game was back in 1998, and coach Zlatko Dalic said he was glad the squad had put that unfortunate record behind them.

“We were disciplined and we deserved the win. We fought for this,” he told reporters.

Nigeria’s average age heading into Russia was a little over 25 years old and at times the experience gap showed.

Rohr kept faith in 19-year-old keeper Francis Uzoho but the Deportivo stopper’s first real action was picking the ball out of the net.

Just after the half-hour mark, Mandzukic, industrious in his hold-up play, chested a Andrej Kramaric cross back to Ante Rebic, whose fizzing shot was blocked. The resulting corner saw Rebic return the favour with a near-post flick on met by a diving Mandzukic.

Oghenekaro Etebo, up until that point one of Nigeria’s best performers, was wrong-footed and bundled into his own net.

– ‘All in our hands’ –

Nigeria responded well, with Arsenal forward Alex Iwobi’s shot from a cleared free kick blocked on 45 minutes and his Premier League colleague Victor Moses shooting wide from 30 yards on the stroke of half time.

They had the best of the start of the second period, forcing Croatia to bat away three corners in succession, before Moses again snatched a shot wide of Danjiel Subasic’s left upright.

But just as Nigeria showed some signs of life, in the 71st minute William Ekong held down Mandzukic from a cross in the area and referee Sandro Ricci immediately pointed to the spot.

Modric’s gilded right foot guided it to Uzoho’s right side.

“We didn’t concede a goal from open play, only from set pieces so this is not a question of tactics,” Rohr said.

“Sometimes we were a little bit naive on set pieces but we will work on it.”

Nigeria play Iceland on June 22 in Volgograd and Rohr insisted his team could still make it out of what is a highly competitive group.

“We are only one point behind (Iceland) and all is in our hands so let’s be positive. Let them learn from this defeat and try to do better,” said the former Bordeaux coach.

Despite fears pre-match, there was no reports of any racist chanting from among the near-capacity crowd in Kaliningrad.

 The world No 26 Khosit took three minutes over an hour to eliminate China’s Lu Guangzu 21-16 12-21 21-16 in the quarter-finals yesterday (Thailand time), while the 38th-ranked Lee dashed the hopes of Thailand’s young gun Kantapphon Wangcharoen 21-18 21-18.

For Khosit, 23, from Chiang Mai, it’s a first semi-final since he triumphed at the Vietnam Open last September.

“I really pushed myself to dictate play as Lu was fast and loved to come to the net. I had to keep him at the baseline and took the initiative. I was a better player today,” said the fourthseeded Khosit.

He is looking to settle a score with four-time BWF Tour champion Lee, who beat him 21-15 21-9 in the Hong Kong Open second round last year.

“Lee is a very strong and solid player. I lost to him the last time we met. I hope I can return him the favour this time,” he said.

Khosit is the only Thai left in competition.

Elsewhere in the women’s singles quarter-finals, 2017 Princess Cup champion Busanan Ongbamrungphan lost to Japanese arch-rival Aya Ohori 21-7 21-10, while Uber Cup teammate Pornpawee Chochuwong succumbed to top seed Beiwen Zhang of Malayisa 18-21 24-22 1-21.

In the women’s doubles quarter-finals, Supissara Paewsampran and Puttita Supajirakul were sent packing by Tang Jinhua and Yu Xiaohan of China 6-21 14-21.

Sergio Aguero scored an eye-catching opener for the two-time world champions in the 19th minute but it was almost immediately cancelled out by Alfred Finnbogason, whose team then held on in the face of immense pressure.

It was a major embarrassment for Argentina and raises questions about their ability to claim football’s biggest prize for the first time since 1986.

As Diego Maradona looked on at Moscow’s Spartak stadium, Messi also failed to respond to his rival Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick for Portugal against Spain a day earlier.

Messi is yet to win a major international tournament and time is running out with his 31st birthday looming.

While the result was not on the scale of that Iceland produced to eliminate England from Euro 2016, it was a major boost for the tiny nation, who retain hopes of advancing from a group that also includes Nigeria and Croatia.

The island nation of 330,000 is the smallest country to ever qualify for the finals but emphatically showed they can mix it with the heavyweights.

In front of a raucous crowd at the 45,000-capacity venue, Iceland launched into some early physical challenges and rattled Argentina.

They hit on the counter and gave Argentina a scare when Bjorn Sigurdarson pounced on a loose ball only to rifle his shot just wide of the post.

Aguero settled Argentine nerves in the 19th minute when he latched onto Marcos Rojo’s pass in the box, turned and hammered home with his left foot.

True to form, Iceland fought back and Finnbogason netted the equaliser four minutes later, pouncing when Argentine keeper Wilfredo Caballero parried away Gylfi Sigurdsson’s shot for a classic poacher’s goal.

Argentina continued to press but Messi was subdued in the face of muscular Icelandic defence and the teams went into the break on even terms.

Messi looked furious as he led his team out for the second half but the Argentines still struggled to dominate.

They appeared to have secured a breakthrough when Polish referee Szymon Marciniak pointed to the spot after Rurik Gislason brought Maximiliano Meza down in the 63rd minute.

Messi stepped up for the kick but Hannes Halldorsson guessed correctly and palmed away the Argentine skipper’s side-footed effort.

His free-kick in the final moments of the game was deflected off the Iceland wall and the Barcelona talisman trudged off the pitch dejected.

Argentina must regroup before facing Croatia on Nizhny Novgorod on June 21, while Iceland face Nigeria in Volgograd on June 22.

The Group C match in Kazan was goalless when Antoine Griezmann went down after a tackle in the second half. Uruguayan referee Andres Cunha did not award a penalty but after viewing the VAR footage, ruled it was a spot-kick and Griezmann gave France a 1-0 lead.

Minutes later the Socceroos drew level through a penalty of their own, although this time it was awarded by the referee, with Mile Jedinak coolly beating Hugo Lloris.

But Paul Pogba won a tight match for the 1998 champions when his shot bounced over the line off the crossbar in the 81st minute.

VAR has been used to varying degrees of success in Serie A and the German Bundesliga, while FIFA used the system at the Confederations Cup in Russia last year.

The technology is used in what are considered “game-changing” situations, such as a goal, penalty or red card, and can also be used to help referees with cases of mistaken identity.

– Messi World Cup bid –

Lionel Messi’s bid for World Cup redemption begins on Saturday when he leads Argentina against tiny Iceland.

Messi’s eternal rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, made history on Friday when he became only the fourth player to score at four World Cups on his way to a hat-trick against Spain to earn a dramatic 3-3 draw.

His fellow superstar Messi, with whom he has monopolised the world player of the year award for a decade, is under immense pressure to secure his first major international trophy and make amends for Argentina’s painful loss to Germany in the 2014 final.

The Barcelona maestro was not born when the “Albiceleste” last tasted success in 1986 and, at almost 31, knows that time is running out.

If Messi’s Argentina are to overcome poor form and injury woes, the five-time world player of the year needs high-profile teammates such as Sergio Aguero, Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain to fire.

“I am convinced Argentina will show we are one of the best teams in the world,” coach Jorge Sampaoli said ahead of the Group D game.

They face Iceland, who say they fear no-one in their first ever appearance in a World Cup finals, at Moscow’s Spartak stadium.

Spurred on by their fans’ thunderous “Viking clap”, Iceland famously dumped England out of Euro 2016 and coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said he wanted more of the same.

“We’ve shown that if we work together as one unit, like we’ve been doing, then anything is achievable and it won’t come as a shock,” he said.

The day’s action also pits Peru against Denmark.

Peru’s Paolo Guerrero will look to prove his drug-ban controversy is behind him in the other Group C game against the Danes.

Flamengo forward Guerrero had a 14-month ban for testing positive for cocaine overturned just weeks before the tournament began and celebrated by scoring twice in a friendly against Saudi Arabia.

Croatia take on African powerhouse Nigeria in Saturday’s final match in Kaliningrad in Group D, providing a possible test of FIFA’s determination to keep racism out of its showpiece tournament in Russia.

Croatia will field Real Madrid’s Luka Modric and Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic against Nigeria but the focus is likely to be on the reception local fans give the Africans.

Racism has dogged the Russian game for decades and FIFA last month fined the national football association over chants directed at black players during a friendly against France.

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr said there had been no issues so far and he did not expect that to change.

“We all are sure that there will not be any problems for the Nigerian players because the atmosphere we felt already arriving in Russia was very good,” he said.

Griezmann, expected to make a huge impact on Russia 2018 after topping the Euro 2016 scorers with six goals, was left frustrated by a solid Socceroos defensive display in a tight first half.

The Atletico Madrid star wrote his name into the history books after he went down under a tackle from Josh Rishdon in the penalty box in the second half of the Group C fixture.

Referee Andres Cunha from Uruguay did not initially award a spot-kick but after viewing the VAR footage, ruled it was a penalty and Griezmann coolly slotted past Socceroos’ goalkeeper Mathew Ryan at the Kazan Arena.

But French celebrations were short-lived, Australia captain Mile Jedinak levelling only four minutes later after a clear hand ball by Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti.

In a match that saw Didier Deschamps’ men frustrated throughout by a gutsy Australian defensive display, French pride was only restored in the 81st minute.

Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, still wearing a bandage around a recent head injury, had replaced Griezmann only minutes before playing a one-two with Paul Pogba on the edge of the area.

The Manchester United midfielder’s shot took a deflection off the boot of defender Aziz Behich before creeping over the outstretched hands of Ryan and bouncing over the goalline.

Deschamps, a World Cup winner with France in 1998, will be thanking his lucky stars after a performance which will give him more questions than answers about his ambitious side — the second-youngest in the tournament after Nigeria.

France’s Paul Pogba lies on the field after resulting injured during the game with Australia.

France are hoping to join tournament favourites Brazil, Germany and Spain in the latter stages as they look to make amends for losing the Euro 2016 final to Portugal.

In a tight first half that saw Griezmann, teenager Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele fail to spark, it was the yellow-clad Aussie fans who have invaded the Tatar capital in recent days who had most to cheer about.

On 17 minutes France ‘keeper Hugo Lloris was forced to turn a dangerous deflection from Corentin Tolisso around his far post.

It was a huge sight of relief for Les Bleus, who went from making a bright start to finishing the opening half wondering how to pierce the Australia back line.

Before Griezmann’s feat, Mbappe had made history at kick-off by becoming the youngest French player, at 19 and six months, to start a World Cup game.

Only two minutes in, the fleet-footed Paris Saint-Germain forward cut in to meet an enticing through ball from midfield and force Ryan into action at his near post.

Mbappe won a free kick 25 yards out after a challenge from behind but Paul Pogba’s curling effort over the wall was straight to Ryan.

Deschamps had warned of the improvement Australia have made under Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk, who took over from Ange Postecoglou in January.

But Australia spent most of the first half defending and ultimately frustrating France, rarely creating real chances of their own.

The real drama, however, unfolded after the interval with the VAR decision.

The 31-year-old Scot has not played a competitive match since he was knocked out of the Wimbledon quarter-finals last July, a hip injury ending his season.

Murray — who had targeted the grass court season for his return as he seeks a third Wimbledon title — underwent surgery on it in Australia in January after pulling out of the Australian Open.

He has been practising regularly for the past fortnight and a final workout on Friday at Queen’s Club with fellow Briton world number 79 Cameron Norrie convinced him to return.

“Andy Murray has confirmed that he will play in the Fever-Tree Championships,” the tournament said on its official Twitter account.

Murray, whose only other Grand Slam win was the 2012 US Open having lost five Aussie Open finals and once in the French Open final, faces temperamental but talented Australian Nick Kyrgios in the first round. Despite the Briton having won the tournament five times, his tricky draw is due to his world ranking having dropped to 157.

Murray’s half of the draw includes two former Wimbledon finalists.

Croatia’s top seed Marin Cilic, who lost in the 2017 Wimbledon final to Roger Federer, and Canadian Milos Raonic, who Murray beat in the 2016 final, in what is Queen’s strongest line-up in years.

Novak Djokovic, albeit seemingly not the force of old after his own return from injury problems, could await Murray in the final as he is in the other half of the draw whilst the likes of Stan Wawrinka and mercurial Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov are among those lining up.

Murray, who had previously put off his planned return to grass by withdrawing from the Rosmalen event, has been holding practice sessions over the past two weeks.

The two-time Olympic singles champion measured his progress against up and coming compatriot Kyle Edmund and young American prospect Frances Tiafoe.

Edmund, ranked 18 in the world, told The Times Murray was hitting the ball as well as ever.

“I was changing surface to come on to the grass so we wanted to do drills and get hours in the legs, work on the fitness,” said Edmund.

“Obviously he wasn’t going to be playing set after set straight away so we were drilling. I didn’t say, ‘How is it (the hip)?’ I just got on and drilled.

“Even with time away from a match court he still hits a very good ball, very clean and is just a pure striker of the ball.

“That’s never disappeared. I guess the thing is obviously the movement. But in terms of a ball-striker, it was no different.”