Andy Murray revealed on Monday that he has had hip surgery in Australia which he hopes will not only allow him to play at Wimbledon this summer, the scene of his last competitive match, but also restore him to near the high point of his career in late 2016, when he began a run of 37 weeks as world No1.

Speaking from his hospital bed only hours after Dr John O’Donnell, one of the world’s leading hip surgeons, had operated, Murray said: “I went in at 7.30am [Melbourne time] and I woke up from the operation about 10.30am. I’m very optimistic because, having spoken to the surgeon, he was very happy about how it went. He felt my hip will be feeling better than it did a year ago. I was still doing fine a year ago, ranked No1 in the world.”

Murray, who had given the impression last Thursday that he was flying home to London after pulling out of the Brisbane International, when he was actually making probably the biggest decision of his career 12,000 miles away, will return to the UK within a fortnight, when he says he should be fit enough to fly. He did not think he would attend the Australian Open, which starts next Monday, and revealed he plans to reduce his workload to prolong his career.

Speaking exclusively to British tennis writers, he said: “In terms of my approach to my career, I’m certainly not going to be putting in the same amount of tournaments and effort to try to get to No1. I’ll certainly be more considered in the amount of tournaments I play, even though I play a conservative schedule anyway in comparison to most of the players on the Tour. I’ll be playing a reduced schedule, and then focusing more on trying to win major events and big tournaments rather than trying to achieve certain ranking goals.”

Quick Guide Story behind Murray's injuries Show The problem Murray’s hip problem became apparent after an arduous French Open semi-final defeat by Stan Wawrinka in June. He then limped through Wimbledon before his defeat by Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals and then, despite resting the injury, pulled out on the eve of the US Open. He has not played since on tour despite a period of rehab and rest. Murray has explained how the injury affects his movement but not revealed the medical diagnosis of the injury. The doctor Murray revealed he has been consulting Dr John O’Donnell since 2008 for hip issues. O’Donnell is a highly respected orthopaedic surgeon based in Melbourne, whose area of expertise is hip arthroscopy, in which he has specialised for 28 years. Lleyton Hewitt was operated on by Michael Pritchard, who works with O’Donnell at Hip Arthroscopy Australia. The precedents Hip problems for tennis players are not uncommon. For some, Gustavo Kuerten and Magnus Norman, they effectively ended their careers after surgeries to repair tears to the cartilage between the hip joint and socket. It is not all doom and gloom. Lleyton Hewitt, who had surgeries in 2008 and 2010, won four more tournaments and reached the fourth round in several slams. Tommy Haas had hip surgery in 2010 and was named comeback player of the year in 2012. Most players had surgery on their right hip first. The target Murray hopes to be back on court hitting balls in seven to eight weeks. The return date for the type of surgery he underwent is around 14 weeks but Murray is targeting the grass-court season, which starts on 11 June with the Nottingham Open, followed by Queen’s a week later. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP

He added: “My plan is to be back playing around the grasscourt season – potentially before then. I’m going to take my time to make sure that the rehab is done properly, and make sure that the surgery is as successful as it can be. I’ve been quoted times for how long it’s taken for players to get back from the surgery I’ve had, and up to 14 weeks is what I’ve been given.

“I want to come back when I’m fit and ready to play, not to get into a situation like in Brisbane [where he withdrew without going on court] or New York [where he pulled out just after the US Open draw was made], where I’m unsure when I turn up at a tournament how fit I am. I want to know when I come back that I’m ready.”

Murray sounded reassuringly upbeat about his chances of resurrecting a career that had looked in danger of disintegration only a week ago – six months after his last competitive match, when he lost against Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

He also revealed he began consulting Dr O’Donnell in 2008 because of minor hip problems. Murray said the decision to have surgery – having earlier rejected it – was not one he took lightly. “I was nervous this morning, but it was the right decision to make. I was struggling. I’ve been in pain walking since before Wimbledon. It’s got better but still it’s extremely tiring mentally when every single time you are walking you are feeling your hip, from the first minute that you wake up in the day and start walking to when you lie down at night.

“This is something I’m going to have to manage very smartly and very closely for the rest of my career. I’m aware of that and I’m going to make sure I’m going to do that. I’m just looking forward to not being in pain.”