But now, the two sit at different parts of their tennis comebacks after strolling into uncharted territory with hip resurfacing surgeries in January 2019 and August 2018 respectively.

If you told me I'd be sitting here today a fan of Murray's, that would have been another reaction entirely.

At the peak of his career, Murray was an athlete I just couldn't warm to.

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Through the undeniable comparisons with Springfield's favourite Groundskeeper Willie and constant flip flopping between being a Brit or a Scot (no-one still knows the answer), I remained warmly on Federer and Nadal's side.

It was just something about him, perhaps it was the ever-present scowl but now as I've grown up, an appreciation for the United Kingdom's Sir Andrew has become second nature.

While still siding with the Swiss and Spanish duo in the 'big four' stakes, the determination of Murray's recent comeback has seen him leap up my list of like-able tennis stars.

Casual sporting fans could be forgiven in thinking that the 32-year-old actually had retired but I'll tell you now, after his form in the last few weeks, his career is far from over.

Seen as tennis' bridesmaid for several years, Murray broke through for his first Grand Slam at the 2012 US Open (much to the dismay of 13-year-old Josh) after claiming Olympic gold on his home court - Wimbledon, earlier that year.

He backed it up by taking home the All England Club's Grand Slam title in 2013 and '16 before the seriousness of the hip problems that had been background noise in his career finally kicked in.

First feeling the pain as a 20-year-old in 2008, Murray began to miss tournaments in 2017 before undergoing his first surgery in January of the following year, an option which he then thought would see him miss '12-14 weeks' before a full recovery.

A June return saw a tight loss to everyone's favourite Australian, Nick Kyrgios, before a dominant win over Stan Wawrinka made everyone think he was back at the top of his game.

But it wasn't to be.

Playing only 10 more matches on tour in 2018, more time off was required and a four-hour, five-set encounter against Roberto Bautista-Agut at the 2019 Australian Open looked to potentially be his final match on tour.

Hobbling between points, struggling to get any power out of his reliable serve that had treated him so well in the past and several leg-grabbing moments were enough to bring a tear to the eye, looking like an unfair end to a fantastic career.

So much so that tournament organisers put together a retirement video full of testimonial tributes from athletes at the top of their game and playing it on court in front of Andy and his newly-found fans.

Well goodness me, they have egg on their faces now.

Undergoing surgery later in January, Murray would soon reveal a pain-free hip and treated his comeback with a fair bit more caution this time around, easing his way into the doubles circuit before eyeing a singles return.

A return that was never doubted by fellow surgical marvel, Bryan.

"If anyone can come back, then Andy can, particularly with his mind, the will to do it and the team that he's got around him," he said.

"I'd say that 99.9 per cent of players on tour don't have what he has. They don't have that mind - and that's got to count for something in coming back."

Playing six doubles tournaments, including a tournament victory at the Fever-Tree Championships, Murray found himself stepping back into the singles arena before two losses at the main-tour level saw him take a step I honestly thought his ego wouldn't allow.

Sir Andrew Murray, winner of three Grand Slams, an Olympic gold medal and an actual proper knighthood, went down to the Challenger level and played against un-ranked 17-year-old Frenchman Imran Sibille for his first singles win since September 2018.

Since then, a fiery three-set tussle with top-15 player Fabio Fognini, a win over his countryman Mario Berrettini and a tight clash with world no. 5 Dominic Thiem has seen the hip stretched beyond its once-thought capacity, less than nine months after its rehashing.

Announcing his Grand Slam return for the 2020 Australian Open, it is yet to be seen if Murray's war-torn body will remain up to the rigours of the seven best-of-five-set matches required to win one of tennis' greatest prizes but Bryan - albeit in the doubles arena - has returned with a bang.

After watching twin brother Mike add two Grand Slams partnering Jack Sock to his doubles tally which had previously only seen one title won with someone unrelated, Bob's return to tennis was similar to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Having the surgery at 40 years of age, Bryan's tour life was already limited but after taking a punt on the surgery for a better life with thoughts of retirement in his head, the left-handed twin returned in early January.

Picking up a Masters 1000 title along the way, with a 17^th Grand Slam still elusive, the link between Bryan and Murray has never been as strong, with the two looking to dry the ink on their fairytale.

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