Murray has hip surgery; Altamirano reaches quarters

Andy Murray, who won the first two of his 45 tour-level
singles titles in San Jose in 2006 and 2007, wrote on Insta-
gram that he now has a metal hip. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Andy Murray might try to prolong his career, after all.
   The former world No. 1, who tearfully announced on Jan. 10 that he would retire after Wimbledon in July at the latest, underwent right hip surgery in London on Monday.
   " ... Feeling a bit battered and bruised just now but hopefully that will be the end of my hip pain," Murray, 31, wrote on Instagram. "I now have a metal hip."
   Doubles specialist Bob Bryan had the same procedure last August. He returned in the recent Australian Open, teaming with 40-year-old twin Mike Bryan to reach the quarterfinals. They played at Stanford in 1997 and 1998, leading the Cardinal to the NCAA title in both years.
   "He's been watching me like a hawk, asking me how I'm feeling after matches, after practices, where I'm at," Bob Bryan said of Murray in an  Associated Press story. "I never once told him, 'This is the way to go,' because I do see that singles is a different monster. Those guys are really sliding around, killing themselves for four hours. Who knows if this joint would hold up?"
   Murray, who won the first two of his 45 tour-level singles titles in San Jose in 2006 and 2007, also had right hip surgery last January and came back in June.
   ATP Challenger Tour -- Collin Altamirano of Sacramento reached the quarterfinals of last week's $162,480 Oracle Challenger Series in Newport Beach.
   After receiving a first-round bye as an alternate, the 23-year-old Altamirano defeated Victor Estrella Burgos, 38, of the Dominican Republic and Dustin Brown, 34, of Germany before losing to Donald Young of Atlanta.
   Brown, the runner-up in the $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger in 2015, is 2-0 against Rafael Nadal. Both wins came on grass, including on Centre Court at Wimbledon in the second round in 2015.