ANGRY ANDY’S HARSH LESSON
MOMENTS before Andy Murray learned of his grisly draw at the Australian Open, Roger Federer was waxing lyrical about what keeps him so fresh at 37.
The defending champion still looks ridiculously sprightly, his motivation undimmed by any amount of wealth, titles (99 and counting), fame and adulation.
Maintaining a successful career into the deep end of the thirties appears, sadly, to be something that Murray is not destined to enjoy.
There was a further reminder of this yesterday when, several hours before the draw which pitted him against in-form No22 seed Roberto Bautista Agut, Murray played the best part of two sets under serious match conditions against Novak Djokovic on the Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park.
With several thousand spectators allowed in — and replete with an umpire, line judges and a scoreboard — they played out their allotted practice time after an elongated warm-up, with the score ending up at 6-1, 4-1 to the Serb. Safe to say it was not among their greatest battles, which have included four Australian finals in the neighbouring Rod Laver Arena. Although both were keen to replicate match conditions, there was the sense that world No1 Djokovic never needed to reach for his highest gear. The enthusiastic crowd saw the increasingly familiar mix of the 31-year-old Scot moving awkwardly between points but looking better when actually forced to run.
Murray’s serve was picked off at will by the greatest returner of all and he only held it once, when 0-3 down in the second set.
At times there was some impressive scampering around the back of the court but he could not exert pressure on his one-time great rival. A feeling of melancholy hung in the air.
Afterwards Murray had an animated conversation with his support team, waving his arms around like a traffic cop, and was clearly unhappy.
It does not augur well for this fortnight and probably beyond, and Murray’s depressed ranking of 230 meant that he was at the mercy of the draw. He was pitted against Spaniard Bautista Agut – who beat Djokovic on his way to winning the Qatar Open.
That would hardly have helped his mood.