A DISAPPOINTING DAY FOR BRITAIN
WIMBLEDON, England—the recurring cries of “Come on, Andy!” at Centre Court meandered somewhere along the continuum from pushing to pleading as two-time champion Andy Murray’s shortest stay at Wimbledon came to a close.
Unable to overcome big John Isner’s big serves, the way he always has in the past, the revered Murray lost in the second round to the 20th-seeded American, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 6-4, on Wednesday night at the All England Club, capping a disappointing afternoon and evening in the grass-court Grand Slam tournament’s main stadium for the locals.
Prior to Murray vs. Isner, the host country’s other leading player, reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu, was eliminated by Caroline Garcia of France, 6-3, 6-3.
Asked whether he plans to be back a year from now, the 35-year-old Murray replied: “It depends on how I am physically. If physically I feel good, we’ll try to keep playing. But it’s extremely difficult, with the problems I’ve had with my body the last few years, to make predictions.”
Murray needed multiple operations on his hip and now has an artificial joint. He also recently dealt with an abdominal issue that hampered his preparations last week.
In addition to becoming Britain’s first men’s singles title winner in 77 years at Wimbledon when he claimed the trophy in 2013—and adding another in 2016—
Murray always had managed to make it to at least the third round in his 13 prior appearances. He lost that early twice, in his
2005 debut and in 2021.
“It’s no secret that I am most definitely not a better tennis player than Andy Murray. I might have been just a little bit better than him today. It was an incredible honor to play him on this court, in front of this crowd,” said the 37-year-old Isner, who won the longest match in tennis history by a 70-68 score in the fifth set at Wimbledon in 2010 and reached the semifinals there in 2018. “At the age I’m at now, I need to relish these moments. This was one of the biggest wins of my career.”
Raducanu, who won last year’s US Open at the age of 18, hasn’t gotten past the second round at a Grand Slam tournament since then.
On Wednesday, she lost to Caroline Garcia of France 6-3, 6-3 on Centre Court at Wimbledon.
“There’s no pressure. Like, why is there any pressure? I’m still 19. Like, it’s a joke. I literally won a Slam,” the 19-year-old British player said. “Yes, I have had attention. But I’m a Slam champion, so no one’s going to take that away from me. Yeah, if anything, the pressure is on those who haven’t done that.”
The 10th-seeded Raducanu has dealt with minor injuries recently, including a side strain that forced her to retire from a match at the Nottingham Open two weeks ago. She said she didn’t feel any pain but acknowledged being rusty after playing only “seven hours of tennis in a month.”
“To even compete with these girls at this level and win a round I think is a pretty good achievement,” she said.
Raducanu beat Alison Van Uytvanck 6-4, 6-4 in the first round—also in the main stadium—but ran into a player on a roll on Wednesday. Garcia, who has been ranked as high as No. 4, extended her winning streak to seven matches, which includes the Bad Homburg title in Germany last week for her first tournament win in three years.
“I struggled to find a way through her today,” Raducanu said. “But it’s OK because coming into this I didn’t really have many expectations of myself. Playing on Centre Court again was, again, a really positive experience for me. So, yeah, I can take it going forwards.” AP