MURRAY’S DECISION DAY OVER FITNESS
NDy MuRRAy has been here more times than he would care to remember, agonising over whether the body he has pulverised in pursuit of perfection can let him come back.
There was last September’s uS Open, when he drew the wrath of other players by causing the seeds to be reshuffled after he pulled out following the draw.
A similar thing happened on a smaller scale in January when he pulled back from returning at the Brisbane International.
During the French Open, he decided he was not ready to compete at this week’s ATP event in Rosmalen, Holland, and now he was on the pristine lawns of west London’s Queen’s Club trying to answer the same question.
By yesterday evening, he still could not make up his mind about whether he can risk himself in next week’s Fever-Tree Championships, despite what seemed like a marked improvement in his movement that allowed him to compete properly against compatriot and world No 79 Cameron Norrie.
An announcement was promised by 7pm, but instead came word that he wants to sleep on it, with the pledge that a puff of smoke will be forthcoming before today’s official draw ceremony at noon.
The respectable 3-6, 7-5 scoreline was not enough to persuade him that he is ready to take a chance on entering the event. He was hitting the ball cleanly enough yesterday, in line with eyewitness reports from Wimbledon’s practice courts, where he has been for the best part of two weeks.
With the media permitted to watch the first half-hour from a courtside platform, as well as there being a live Facebook stream, it was soon evident that Murray’s movement is better than it was during the November charity exhibition match in Glasgow versus Roger Federer.
The first five games went with serve and then Norrie broke, largely thanks to two rusty looking double faults from the 31-year-old Scot.
Murray is one of the best movers on a grass court the game has ever seen, but there looks to be a lack of explosiveness in the legs after such a long time out of action.
He was able to play several rallies scurrying back and forth across the baseline, however, and also moved forward with relative ease to meet shorter balls.
Kyle Edmund was also on site and the British No 1 has been hitting with Murray at SW19.
‘He@’sMaikper_oDpieckr stoen_nDiMs player and you can tell because, even with time away from a match court, he still hits a very good ball, very clean,’ said Edmund.