Former world number four Greg Rusedski doubts whether Andy Murray can win another Grand Slam title.

Murray, 30, is recovering from hip surgery and could miss up to a year of action before he is fully fit.

The Scot has won Wimbledon twice and the US Open.

• Will surgery give Murray new lease of life?
• Who will win the Australian Open?
• Konta faces Brengle at Australian Open

“If he can get fit, he’s got a shot to get back into the top 100, then top 50 and build his game back,” said Rusedski, who reached the US Open final in 1997, on BBC Radio 5 live.

“But it’s going to take a long while and I wish him all the best because hip surgeries are something that’s difficult to manage.

“I don’t think he will win another Grand Slam, just because of the physical issues he’s had, but I hope he proves me wrong.

“I think he’s done everything he could because usually with a hip problem, you take six months, you hope it comes back good, it didn’t come back the way he’d want so he had no choice but to have the hip surgery and then that’s probably another six months of recuperation.”

Rusedski was asked how Murray’s situation compares to Roger Federer’s absence in 2016, after which he won the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

“I think Andy’s got a lot more to overcome to be frank,” Rusedski said. “If you could look at Federer, physically he’s had one surgery in his life, which was a minor meniscus knee surgery and he actually injured his knee in the bathtub of all places when he was bathing his kids, so it wasn’t tennis related.

“If you look at Murray physically, he’s had a lot more difficulties. He’s had back surgery already, his hip surgery, he’s had all sorts of injuries to cope with so for Murray I think it’s going to be a big challenge but he’s one of our greatest sportsmen we’ve ever had in this country and I hope he can come through it, but it’s going to be a big ask.”

British number one Johanna Konta’s will to win is “very close” to matching Maria Sharapova’s, says her new coach.

Michael Joyce, who was a major part of Sharapova’s team for six years, started working with Konta in November.

The American, who reached the top 100 as a player before going into coaching, told BBC Sport there are many similarities between the two women.

“The biggest thing with Maria for me was her will to win – Johanna’s very close to that”, the 44-year-old said.

Ninth seed Konta begins her Australian Open campaign against American Madison Brengle in the first round in Melbourne.

• Who’s fully fit? Who’s favourite? Who will win the Australian Open?
• Konta faces Brengle while Edmund plays Anderson in first round
• BBC coverage times

“It was one of the things that I talked to my wife about – I said she actually has a lot of similarities to Maria,” Joyce added.

“Girls like that want to win so bad. For a coach, it’s one of the best things we can ask for. However sometimes if you want things too bad, it can almost backfire too at times.

“Maria was like that: because they want to win so bad they are willing to keep working and do just about anything, and you have to be able to balance that as well.”

Sharapova rose to world number one, and won both the US Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008 with Joyce as part of the team.

“They are both very humble”, he continued.

“They don’t search the spotlight, and for me I’m kind of the same. I think both of them enjoy being out on the practice court and enjoy competing and I’m the same way.

“They’re not that excited about all the lights and whistles and so forth, and so for me they are very similar in that way as well.”

Konta reached the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International in the first week of the season, but was then beaten in the opening round in Sydney by Agnieszka Radwanska.

The 26-year-old, who ended an otherwise impressive 2017 season with five straight defeats, has highlighted a need to “panic less” in matches that are not going her way.

“I think Jo’s biggest issues a lot of the time don’t even have to do with the match in hand,” Joyce said.

“It might be expectations that she puts on herself, or it might be off court thinking about results, and I did that a lot myself.

“When you’re an intelligent person, which she is, you actually know what is happening. Sometimes it hurts you because you start thinking about all the stuff except for winning the next point.

“That’s a learned skill and I know Jo’s improved that a lot the last few years, but there’s always room for improvement.”

Who is Michael Joyce?

• Reached a high of 64th as a player after turning professional in 1991
• American author David Foster Wallace wrote a 12,000-word essay on Joyce and the “physics of tennis” when Joyce was a youth player
• Coached Sharapova from 2004 to 2011, overseeing her rise to world number one
• Worked with American Jessica Pegula, the daughter of the owners of NFL team Buffalo Bills. Pegula’s father, Terrence, has a net worth of $4.3bn (£3.1bn) after making his money from fracking
• Coached Victoria Azarenka for eight months in 2017 after her return from giving birth to her son, Leo

Analysis

Former British number one Greg Rusedski, speaking to BBC Sport

If Jo is healthy, she has a real opportunity to possibly go all the way this year. If you look at her section in the draw, there’s a wonderful opportunity.

I think mentally, she has got a lot stronger and tougher. You have to have that drive and willpower to be the best.

She is progressing nicely – now is the time to get over that hump and get into a Grand Slam final, and Michael is the right combination to help her get there.

Michael is a brilliant coach – he’s a good guy and his success with Maria at Grand Slams is why Jo brought him onto her team.

The Australian Open’s Margaret Court Arena should be renamed because of the 11-time champion’s “derogatory” views on sexuality, says Billie Jean King.

Court, who holds the record for winning most Grand Slam singles titles at 24, is an opponent of gay marriage.

The second show court at Melbourne Park was renamed in the 75-year-old Australian’s honour in 2003.

“I’m a gay woman. If I were playing today, I would not play on it,” King, 74, said on Friday.

The American, who won 12 major singles titles, said she had originally backed Court to be honoured by the naming of the stadium, but the Australian’s outspoken views in recent years had changed her mind.

• Who’s fully fit? Who’s favourite? Who will win the Australian Open?
• Konta faces Brengle while Edmund plays Anderson in first round
• BBC coverage times

Court, a Pentecostal pastor, has been a regular visitor to the Australian Open in recent years but has chosen to skip the event this month, choosing instead to go crab fishing in her native Western Australia.

“I was fine until lately when she said so many derogatory things about my community. That really went deep in my heart and soul,” King told a news conference in Melbourne on Friday.

“I just feel like she’s gotten really derogatory. When she talks about the children of transgenders being from the devil, that put me over the edge.

“I wish she were here so we could further this discussion.”

King added that she would not encourage players to boycott matches, but that she did not believe Court’s name should be on the arena.

“I think if you were talking about indigenous people, Jews or any other people, I can’t imagine the public would want somebody [with those views] to have their name on something,” she said.

“Maybe because of our community, the LGBTIQ community, people might feel differently but we’re all God’s children.

“I probably don’t think it’s appropriate to have her name [on the stadium].”

Martina Navratilova, an 18-time Grand Slam champion, told the New York Times on Thursday: “You keep her in the Hall of Fame. That Margaret has definitely homophobic views does not take away those accomplishments, no doubt about that.

“But you do not name a building after her. Would you be naming a new building after her now? No, there’s no chance.”

Craig Tiley, Australian Open tournament director and CEO of Tennis Australia, said there were no plans to change the name of the stadium and that Court’s views did not echo those of the organisation or the sport.

“It’s up to a broader group of people,” he said of any move to rename the stadium.

“There’s the Trust, the tennis organisation in the facility, the [Victoria State] government who owns and redevelops the venue.

“There’s ongoing conversation but no formal process. We take our leadership and our position from the government.”

Britain’s Heather Watson missed out on a first WTA final for two years as she lost to Belgian second seed Elise Mertens at the Hobart International.

The 25-year-old, who won the title in 2015, went down 6-4 1-6 6-2 to 2017 champion Mertens in the semi-finals.

Watson will head to next week’s Australian Open with five wins under her belt since the start of the year.

She plays Kazakhstan’s world number 50 Yulia Putintseva in the first round in Melbourne.

• Who’s fully fit? Who’s favourite? Who will win the Australian Open?
• Konta faces Brengle while Edmund plays Anderson in first round
• BBC coverage times
• Live scores and results

Watson’s hopes of winning a fourth WTA title were raised when she fought back after dropping the first set against Mertens.

Ranked 38 places below Mertens at 74th in the world, Watson dominated the second set and earned a break point at the start of the third.

Mertens held on, however, taking a 3-1 lead when a defensive backhand looped over Watson’s head and dropped on the baseline, before breaking once more to clinch victory.

The Belgian will play either Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko or Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania in the final.

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