Twelve years ago they partnered each other at Devonshire Park for Great Britain in the Davis Cup.

Andy Murray and Jamie Delgado were reunited at Eastbourne yesterday - this time as player and coach.

Murray had a mid-morning hit with fellow Brit Kyle Edmund under the watchful eye of Delgado, now his coach, in preparation for his appearance at the Nature Valley International.

They could be on opposite sides of the net again, this time for real, in the second round if Murray comes through his second comeback match against fellow wild card recipient Stan Wawrkinka to face second seed Edmund.

Murray had surgery in January on a hip injury which has sidelined him since last year's Wimbledon.

The two-time Wimbledon champion and former world No.1 made his return to competitive tennis in the Fever-Tree Open at Queen's last week, where he lost in three sets to Nick Kyrgios.

Mum Judy, speaking exclusively to The Argus, said: "He's looking for matches. He played at Queen's last week but apart from that he hadn't played in 11 months so he needs to build up his match fitness and test himself out in match conditions.

"Having the opportunity to play at Eastbourne is all just part of his road to recovery."

Judy was encouraged by her son's performance against Kyrgios. "He was really quite outstanding," she said. "It was amazing how he competed after 11 months of inactivity."

East Sussex is familar territory for Murray (below) on and off the court. Wife Kim was born in Barcombe near Lewes and is the daughter of tennis coach Nigel Sears.

The Argus: The Murrays and their two daughters will not be staying with the in-laws. Judy said: "I think all of the players stay at the tournament hotel. The infrastructure is all there."

Murray, currently ranked 156 in the world, last played in the ATP 250 grass court event at Eastbourne in 2006 when it was staged in Nottingham.

That was the year the 31-year-old also played doubles with Delgado at Eastbourne in the Davis Cup first round play-offs against Israel. They lost in five sets to Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in GB's 3-2 defeat.

Murray made a surprise appearance at Devonshire Park as well two years later alongside brother Jamie for the North of Scotland against Hertfordshire during county week.

Wawrinka, who defeated him in the semi-finals of the French Open last year, is also on the comeback trail.

The 33-year-old from Switzerland, like Murray a three-time Grand Slam champion, is 261st in the rankings after knee surgery and was beaten in the second round at Queen's by American Sam Querrey.

Murray's mum was in Eastbourne yesterday, promoting her She Rallies programme in partnership with the LTA, which aims to get more women involved in coaching and tennis in general.

The number of part-time ambassadors, delivering workshops across the country, has more than doubled from 26 to 56 since the scheme launched 16 months ago. They include former top British players from Sussex Julie Salmon and Julie Hobbs.

Murray broke the mould of male domination when he had former women's world No.1 Amelie Mauresmo as his coach for a spell.

Judy said: "I started at Dunblane Tennis Club as a volunteer when my kids were very tiny. It was nothing to do with them playing, because there were no coaches in our area.

"Andy and Jamie were used to always having a female coach around so when Andy started working with Amelie it created a lot of interest and realisation that women can work at the top of the game and they can work with men.

"It's not about gender, it's about skill sets and personality. That was a huge thing, because it made people talk about female coaches.

"Of course you need your role models at the top of the game but we need numbers at the grass roots of the game and that is really what She Rallies is all about."

http://sherallies.com/get-involved/