Andy Murray: Tennis star wins first singles title since surgery

Go Andy! Andy Murray has won his first singles title since major hip surgery at the beginning of this year.

The British tennis star beat Swiss player Stan Wawrinka at the European Open in Antwerp, winning the match 3-6 6-4 6-4 after struggling in his opening set.

The win was Murray's first in more than two years and only his seventh tournament since his return to singles.

The 32-year-old had been really worried about how his hip injury might affect his career at the Australian Open in January. The former number one ranked player tearfully told a news conference that he'd been in a lot of pain and worried his hip problem could force him to retire early.

He made his return to doubles in June several months after his surgery and made his singles comeback in August, becoming the first tennis player to do so after a hip resurfacing operation.

Since then, Murray's matches have shown steady progress, but his game at Antwerp saw his best performance yet.

This isn't the first time a sports star has defied the odds and made an unexpected comeback - check out these other remarkable sporting stories!

Ben Stokes

England cricketer Ben Stokes pulled off an almighty comeback for England in their third Ashes Test at Headingley back in August.

His efforts kept England's Ashes hopes alive and levelled the series at 1-1, when it looked like it might have been all over for them.

Australia won the first Test. The second was a draw. And the third was the one in which Ben Stokes pulled off a miracle and England won.

Many people said it was one of the most incredible Test innings that has ever been played.

When Jack Leach joined Stokes on the field, England needed 72 runs - and neither Stokes nor his new batting partner could afford to get out. It looked like a near-impossible task.

But Stokes went on to score an unbelievable 135 not out, taking England to victory.

Tiger Woods

In April 2019, Tiger Woods proved doubters wrong with an unbelievable comeback that saw him win the Masters at Augusta, nearly 11 years after his last major win at the 2008 US Open.

In the time leading up to his victory, the American golfer had gone a pretty hard time with several injuries and a lot of personal issues, which led to him taking a break from golf.

On his return, the former number one slipped down the rankings. By 2017, his world ranking had slipped all the way to 1,005.

But at 43 years old, he won the Masters for the first time since 2005.

Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda

Austrian Formula One driver Niki Lauda was on his way to winning another World Championship title in 1976 when his car crashed at the German Grand Prix in Nurburgring .

His Ferrari crashed and exploded into flames leaving him trapped. He suffered burns before being pulled to safety.

Astonishingly, he returned to racing just six weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix.

His quick return to the cockpit was called the most courageous comeback in sporting history.

Bethany Hamilton

American surfer Bethany Hamilton was attacked by a tiger shark in Hawaii and lost her left arm at just 13 years old.

She was determined to get back to surfing, though, and in less than a month after the attack, she was back in the water.

She's had a film made and a book written all about her life, and is still surfing to this day.

James Cracknell

James Cracknell is a retired British Olympic rower who won two Olympic gold medals and six World Championship titles.

In 2010, he was knocked off his bike while taking part in a race to cycle, run, row and swim from LA to New York in America (the two cities are almost 3,000 miles apart, so, it's quite a long race!).

He damaged his brain when he was hit by a truck while cycling through Arizona during the race. Incredibly, just six months after his cycling accident he was back competing in races.

In 2018, he started at Cambridge University and joined the rowing team. He became the oldest rower to ever compete in the famous Oxford-Cambridge race and became the oldest winner when his crew won the 2019 Boat Race.

He will also be taking part in Strictly this year!

Monica Seles

Tennis player Monica Seles dominated the game in the 1990s, but in 1993 she was attacked on a tennis court at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany.

The nine-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one took two years out of the game before she returned to professional tennis.

Her first tournament was the 1995 Canadian Open, which she won.

Muhammad Ali

In 1966, American boxer Muhammad Ali refused to join the US army. It was a decision that led to the World Heavyweight champion being effectively banned from boxing for three years after different organisations across the the US refused to give him a license to fight.

Ali was eventually allowed in the ring and tried to win back his title in 1971. His contest against 'Smokin' Joe Frazier was described as the 'fight of the century' but Ali didn't win.

In 1974, he went up against George Foreman in a fight known as the 'Rumble in the Jungle'. Ali won with an eighth-round knockout. It was a massive upset because Foreman had been unbeaten until that moment.