Former Chelsea team doctor Eva Carneiro is currently helping prolong the career of two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.
Murray, 34, has made a remarkable return to the ATP tour after undergoing a second bout of hip surgery in 2019. The procedure involved attaching a metal cap to the ball in the hip.
Indeed, on Tuesday, he ended a run of six consecutive second-round defeats by beating Denis Shapovalov in a tough three-set encounter at the Madrid Open. It has set up an enticing last-16 match with world No 1 Novak Djokovic on Thursday.
But since 2018, the British icon has been aligned with Gibraltar-born sports medicine specialist Carneiro, in a bid to replicate the endurance and performance levels from the peak of his career. Carneiro of course, is already known to sports fans in the UK - but for footballing reasons as opposed to tennis ones.
When working with the Blues, she angered then manager Jose Mourinho on the opening day of the 2015/2016 Premier League season, during the side's 2-2 draw with Swansea. She ran onto the pitch to tend to an injured Eden Hazard, with Mourinho arguing the treatment was not merited.
Carneiro, 48, left the club the following month. Ironically, Mourinho wasn't far behind, sacked by Roman Abramovich in December of that year after the reigning champions lost nine out of 15 league matches.
The Telegraph reports Carneiro’s research of collagen - short chains of amino acids that build hair, skin and muscles - attracted Murray’s management group to work with her. They have since collaborated to produce a supplement called TRR, which has had tangible effects on Murray’s form.
Speaking about the former world No 1, she told the Telegraph he was: "Fantastically knowledgeable – the kind of athlete who is always looking to examine the science and trying to work out how it can help him.
"As medical professionals, we are discovering that what we thought was impossible is no longer the case. Athletes like Andy and Rafael Nadal are breaking boundaries on all fronts."
And she implied the likes of Murray weren't afraid to take information on board: "These are unique, very intelligent, educated people, who are prepared to take and examine medical evidence and advice and push through perceived challenges."
In January, Murray reached his first final since 2019 at the Sydney Tennis Classic. There, he was beaten 6-3 6-2 by Russian player Aslan Karatsev.
He had initially announced he would be skipping the clay-court season in order to aid his preparation for Wimbledon. However, he later u-turned on that decision, and he beat Dominic Thiem before his battle with Shapovalov.
