Andy Murray turns inspiration for Daria Saville as Australian steps up injury rehab

Australian tennis player Daria Saville, who is currently nursing a knee injury, has looked to Andy Murray for inspiration during her rehab process. The Russia-born player suffered an ACL injury at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last year and has been out of action since then.

Saville withdrew in the second game of her first-round match against Naomi Osaka at the Pan Pacific Open. She hurt her left knee after hitting a cross-court forehand and yelled out “my knee” before dropping to the ground in agony.

Saville later revealed that she had torn her ACL, yet another devastating blow in an injury-prone career.

The 29-year-old, however, has decided to take motivation from Andy Murray by watching the documentary 'Resurfacing.' The documentary tracks the tennis star's devastating injury journey between 2017 and 2019, a period during which he opted for hip replacement surgery and made a return to full action.

Taking to social media on Thursday, Saville said that she thought it would be best to rewatch the documentary while going through her rehab process.

"Going through my own injury and rehab thought I would rewatch @andy_murray #resurfacing," she tweeted.

Daria Saville feels she would have provided drama in Break Point

Daria Saville in action at the Citi Open last year.

Daria Saville had an eventful season in 2022. She made a tremendous rise in the rankings to almost break into the top 50, after starting the year outside the top 600.

The Australian tennis player felt that she should have featured in the Netflix docuseries 'Break Point,' as she believed that her 2022 journey would have provided the proper theatrics for tennis fans.

Seeing fans on Twitter suggesting that the series needed some drama, the 29-year-old stated that she could have provided it if she had gotten the opportunity to feature on the show. Saville tweeted:

"I’m not in it. But I would have provided drama."

The Australian outclassed several top-ranked players last season, including the likes of World No. 2 Ons Jabeur, 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu and Belgium's No. 1 Elise Mertens.

Daria Saville also became the lowest-ranked player in the history of the Miami Open to make the quarterfinals. She additionally made the quarterfinals of the Abierto Akron Zapopan, the Round of 16 in Indian Wells, the semifinals at the Citi Open and was the runner-up at the Granby Championships.

For her performances, she was nominated alongside Serena Williams, Tatjana Maria and Donna Vekic in the "Comeback Player of the year" category at the WTA Awards in 2022.

However, with the injury cutting short her metroic rise, Daria Saville is now ranked 89 in the world. The Australian is expected to complete her rehab and return to action in July 2023.