Andy Murray failing to make Australian Open would worry Boris Becker

Andy Murray is in the middle of a long break following back surgery but hopes to play the Australian Open in January. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Boris Becker thinks "we should all be concerned" for Andy Murray if he does not make it back to the tennis court in time for the Australian Open.

The winner of six grand slam tournaments said Murray, who had remedial surgery to ease chronic pain in his lower back last month and then announced he would rest for the remainder of 2013, was right to take a long break.

"It's no joke. It's not a torn muscle, it's not a twisted ankle. I mean it's a disc, you only have one spine – so it's a very serious injury. I think we should all be concerned. To have surgery is not a minor thing. I think we will know a lot more when he comes back.

"It makes no sense for him to come back quickly and risk not being completely healed; I totally understand that but he should be back for the Australian Open. I think that has to be the goal. Now we are in the middle of October, so there's still a little bit of time left.

"He loves Melbourne, it is one of his best grand slams, and he has a great track record there. So I would really hope he will come back there, maybe play a tournament before, maybe Brisbane, Kooyong. It would be a blow for his year if he can't make it."

Speaking in London on Monday in advance of the countdown to the climax of the season, the ATP World Tour Finals in Greenwich in three weeks' time, Becker said back injuries have always been the biggest concern for players, and revealed he had to deal with his own problems in that area.

"With all the bending, the serving and the leaning, I'm surprised there are not more disc problems among players. In my day, I had back problems – we never called them disc problems. I never had surgery. I was fortunate but that was also a weak part of my body because of the arch in the serve and the landing afterwards.

"I always had a great team. They took care of Bayern Munich and the national [football] team, and they took care of me. It was something I had to do every month. You get injections, certain treatments to take away the inflammation but there comes a point when you can't take the pain any more.

"I don't know in detail what was wrong with Andy's back but it's usually too much inflammation and there's something they do to take away the pressure.

"Andy's style is a lot of grinding, a lot of long rallies, baseline rallies, and therefore certain parts of your body are more over-exposed, like the lower back. That's the way they jerk around the baseline: knees, ankle – but more ankle. We've seen him many times touching his lower back in agony, and his upper thigh; it is all connected. And you wonder sometimes, can he finish the match or is he already in pain? And I think he was in pain."