ANDY Murray and Novak Djokovic weren’t just born within a week of each other in May 1987. Locking horns against each other on a tennis court from around the age of 12, fast forward a decade or so and they found the greatest honours in world tennis resting on the outcome of their contests.

Two men with hugely similar game styles, in June 2016 Novak Djokovic had asserted his-re-eminence in tennis by holding all four Grand Slam titles concurrently, only for the Scot to supplant him at the summit of the sport in frantic finish to the year.

Then injury struck. And it struck hard. Both men spent 2017 vainly hoping that their hip and elbow problems respectively would disappear without the need for surgery, as Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal – restored to rude health - filled their boots. The pair then spent the early weeks of this year realising that wasn’t going to be the case, Djokovic going in for surgery in Switzerland a matter of weeks after Murray went under the knife in Melbourne.

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That is why it would be overly simplistic and rather silly to say there is a lesson for Murray to learn this morning from the way Djokovic this weekend became the latest big hitter of men’s tennis to successfully complete a recovery from serious injury. After all, the Scot is usually a few steps ahead of the rest of us – as he was when predicting the Serb was ready to rack up a fourth Wimbledon title this weekend.

Neither, for all that there seems to be a similarity in their struggles, should anyone assume any easy correlation between the two injuries. As the timeline above shows, Djokovic is way ahead of schedule compared to the Scot, who is just three matches into his comeback. He knew he COULD win Wimbledon so he decided to enter. Murray knew he couldn’t, so he didn’t.

But that doesn’t mean that Dunblane’s most famous son can’t derive further encouragement from the return of his great rival to the summit of the sport. Firstly, the Serb’s return to such robust physical health at the age of 31 is grist to the mill of those who feel Murray still has time on his side. On the evidence of this tournament, tennis is trending towards the thirtysomethings. All four male singles semi-finalists were scampering around quite the thing in their 30s, while the ladies singles final also showcased a duo in Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber who were the wrong side of 30.

Moreover, on the face of it, Djokovic’s victory validates Murray’s softly, softly approach when it comes to dipping his toe in the choppy waters of competitive tennis again. While some no doubt were cursing the manner of his 11th hour decision to withdraw, Djokovic made the mistake of rushing back from his recuperation too soon around the time of Indian Wells and Miami in March and paid the penalty for it. If part of the process for Murray will almost certainly be a humbling defeat here and there, there are points in their respective recoveries when you could pretty much say something similar about both Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal too.

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“To be honest, I have learned how to be patient in this process,” said Djokovic. “Going back to February when I had the surgery of the elbow, I really was impatient. I wanted to come back and compete as quick as possible. I wanted to get out on the court.

“I was still feeling a little bit of discomfort and pain playing Indian Wells, Miami. I just kept going even though everyone was against me competing at that stage. I took the responsibilities. I could not imagine myself being away from the tour another few months after being away from the tour six months in the last season. So I had to learn the lessons in a hard way.”

While it is a process which will require a huge amount of support, the third piece of good news for Murray from Djokovic’s Wimbledon win is how suddenly everything can click. Having said after Roland Garros that even his participation in the event was uncertain, Djokovic wasn’t exactly doubt-free during this SW19 journey, and it will no doubt be the same for Murray, who tested his hip out in three-set matches with respectable results at Queen’s Club and Eastbourne. More of the same is scheduled for the hard courts of Washington, Toronto and Cincinatti.

“I didn’t expect to be back in top shape so quickly,” said the Serb. “If you asked me after Roland Garros, I would have maybe doubted it.”

Djokovic spent Sunday night on the floor with Angelique Kerber at the Champions’ Ball. Hopefully it won’t be too long until his usual dancing partner starts making some moves again.