Rusty Murray loses exhibition match in impromptu return
Scot beaten in one set by Spaniard Bautista Agut Comeback continues at Brisbane International
Andy Murray was on his way to Brisbane last night, having tested out his hip in an unscheduled exhibition match in Abu Dhabi. He might still not be moving with smoothness, but it does at least seem as if he will make his comeback to the ATP tour next week.
When Murray flew to the Middle East on Wednesday, his management said that the trip was purely for practice purposes. But he got a last-minute call-up to the Mubadala World Tennis Championship – the annual exhibition event at the Abu Dhabi Tennis Complex – as a replacement for Novak Djokovic.
His opponent was Roberto Bautista Agut, the Spaniard ranked No20 in the world. In the opening games, Murray looked stiff and sore, and it wasn’t long before Bautista Agut had opened up a 4-0 lead. But then Murray finally managed to hold serve, with the help of a lucky net cord on game point.
He competed respectably for the remaining 15 minutes, saving three match points on his own serve before going down to a 6-2 defeat. (The intention was only ever to play a single set.)
“I felt better as it went along,” Murray said. “Obviously a bit slow at the start. Roberto is one of the best players in the world and when you haven’t competed for a long while it takes time to get back up to that pace. I started to feel a bit better towards the end, but I’ll need to keep improving for sure.”
Clearly, we are not talking about the all-conquering Murray who won his last five tournaments of 2016 to finish the year as world No1. But at least he was playing tennis. Almost six months after his last regular tour appearance, in the Wimbledon quarter-final, his stock has declined dramatically, to the point where a onesided defeat to a fringe player almost feels like good news.
Murray’s hip condition doesn’t look as if it is going to resolve itself completely. He still limps heavily when he walks, and when the ball is in play he struggles to cover the flanks of the court with his usual athleticism. Yesterday he looked uncomfortable when pushed out wide to his forehand side. Still, in light of the number of high-profile players with early-season injury issues, we could see some unexpected results in the coming weeks – whether they come from rising stars like Nick Kyrgios or established champions operating below their usual level.
Despite his fitness woes, Murray is listed as the second seed in his comeback tournament – next week’s Brisbane International – behind the recent ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov. Rafael Nadal’s name was on the entry list but he was forced to withdraw last week by the same knee injury that curtailed his appearance at London’s O2 Arena.
Murray rushed to the airport yesterday, immediately after his match, and was waiting last night to discover who his first-round opponent might be. He might hope for someone inexperienced, as there is still clearly plenty of rust to be removed from his own game before he can deal with established opponents like Bautista Agut.
Meanwhile, Djokovic’s withdrawal from the exhibition in Abu Dhabi sounds like a significant setback. He was in bullish mood earlier this week, telling an interviewer
‘When you haven’t competed for a long while it takes time to get back up to that pace’
that he wants to win more grand-slam titles and resume his familiar status as world No 1. But yesterday he reported a return of the same pain in his right elbow that has forced him off the tour since Wimbledon. “I need to accept this situation,” Djokovic said in a statement, “and to wait for the results of the therapies, in order to start playing tennis again and getting back to full rhythm.”
Of the five established grandslam winners who have dominated recent years, Roger Federer is the only one who has not reported significant physical problems in the build-up to the new season. Nadal – the reigning world No1 – and Stan Wawrinka were also due to play in Abu Dhabi but failed to appear. (Both have a longterm knee injury.) The year’s first major event, the Australian Open, starts on Jan 15 and the bookmakers must be wondering who – apart from Federer – should be ranked among the leading contenders to pick up the trophy.