Andy goes from trash to smash
Scot on course for glory after his ‘garbage’ form
AGAINST all the odds of 10 days ago, Andy Murray is once again in the last four at Roland Garros. Frankly, it amuses him.
“They are all obviously playing extremely well,” he said. “Rafa Nadal’s had a great clay-court season, as has Dominic Thiem. Stan Wawrinka has played great this tournament and won in Vienna, so is obviously confident.
“Whereas, I came in playing garbage! I’m the odd one out in the semis but hopefully I can keep it up.”
There were certainly a few shaky moments against Kei Nishikori, who came out and played brilliantly as Murray twice allowed himself to be broken serving into the glare of the Parisian sun to surrender the first set.
Then came what seemed to be the turning point.
According to Novak Djokovic last week, umpire Carlos Ramos lost his mind. For Murray, he might just have won the quarterfinal. The controversial umpire has not been far from the headlines all week. First he punished the Serb for pretending to hit the ball at him – earning that “lost your mind” rebuke.
Then he upset Nadal by sanctioning him for taking too long between serves. This time, it was Murray in his firing line, for flouting a rule that is long overdue an overhaul, as the Scot expounded in his press conference afterwards.
His particular undoing had been an experimental toss on deuce in the third game of the second set which took him overtime in Ramos’s eyes, and he was swift to punish the world No1 with the loss of a serve.
The reaction? A huge second serve which Nishikori returned long. “Let’s go!” roared Murray. Cue an easy put away to win the game, an exaggerated fist pump at the net and finally Murray had woken up. Using the momentum, Murray immediately broke the world No9 and, as the exemplary groundstrokes the Japanese had produced so far began to miss their targets, Murray broke again.
“Obviously for a couple of points after that I was fired up, because I was frustrated,” said Murray. “It felt to me like it was a strange decision.
“I have never seen anyone get a warning after they have missed the ball toss. I broke the following game but Kei played a poor game to break – I didn’t do anything special. But that was a critical period because he started way better than me. From there I started to do a bit better.”
An untidy third set meandered to a tiebreak but then Murray went up a gear again, rattling off seven unanswered points and cementing it with a fourth-set victory to triumph 2-6, 6-1, 7-6, 6-1.
Far from “garbage” but that did not stop a little bit of trash talk creeping into Wawrinka’s assessment of their prize fight tomorrow.
He is feeling supremely confident after beating the highly fancied Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. And having been beaten by Murray at the semifinal stage last year, the 2015 French Open champion is out for revenge. “Today was a perfect match for me,” he crowed. “I fought very well from the beginning. I was playing the right play. It’s great.
It’s going to be an interesting match. Last year I was playing really well, I was confident. He was playing better than me on that court. Again, it’s a different year. I think he’s struggling a little bit since the beginning of the year, but a champion like him finds a way to win – he’s playing better and better. So I expect him to play his best tennis.
“But I know the way I’m playing and hopefully I can win this match. The conditions are a little different. He’s probably a bit less confident, a bit more hesitant. Hopefully I can take advantage of that.
“I will answer with my game. I’m also playing better than last year. That can only be a big challenge and hopefully a good match.” That, though, will be music to Murray’s ears. “Anyone can win matches when they are playing well,” he countered. “Winning when you’re not playing your best is more impressive. “Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to win the match. It’s not always about the level that you play at. It’s about finding a way to get the win, and that’s what I will try to do on Friday.” Seconds out, round two!
They came in playing well, I’m odd one out