Andy Murray in tears after beating Benoît Paire at Queen’s Club
Three long years have passed since Andy Murray last competed in a grass court singles match in front of a loving home crowd and in that time innumerable obstacles have formed in the way of his modest goals of continuing to play the sport he loves. And so on Tuesday afternoon, as he took a rare positive step forward at the Queen’s Club by defeating Benoît Paire of France 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round, the emotion that followed was long overdue.
After just his second ATP win since August, Murray was asked in his oncourt interview how it felt to be competing again. “I love playing tennis,” he said. Then he choked up, apologising as the emotion took hold. “Obviously, competing is why you put in the hard work. The last few years I’ve not gotten to do it as much as I would like. It’s great that I’m out here and competing again.”
Before this tournament, it was clear that Murray was confident in his level of play and his body was the only question mark. His movement from the start and in all the important moments was therefore encouraging. He sealed his first service game by chasing down a drop shot and then broke serve in both sets with running passing shot winners to demonstrate his agility.
The rest of Murray’s game held up well enough, even though some understandable rust remains. He served well during all of the pressure moments, he allowed Paire’s big first serve few easy points with the quality of his returns and he eagerly swept up short balls with his forehand. He made just six unforced errors.
Murray’s success comes with a caveat, however. It was about the easiest match in the draw against Paire, an opponent whose motivational struggles during the pandemic are well documented. Although his effort is much improved, he has now lost 19 of his last 21 matches and it showed in his erratic decisions and wild misses that nearly hit the back fence.
Afterwards Murray said he was nervous enough to go to the toilet four times in 45 minutes before the match and he stepped on to the court with doubts, but as the match began he thought of nothing but winning. That has not always been the case at a time when he has so often stepped on to the court in pain.
Murray also said he wished he enjoyed the big and small successes throughout his career, and he has resolved to do so for as long as he plays. “That’s why like today, for example, speaking to my team and speaking to my family and stuff, I just wanted to go out there and enjoy it and just be myself. I did that. I enjoyed it.
“I’m always sort of telling myself, and maybe it’s not the best mindset, but each match could be my last one, you know, that I play now. I want to make the most of every match that I play and each tournament that I get the chance to compete in.”
In the second round on Thursday Murray will face Matteo Berrettini, the top seed. Earlier in the day Dan Evans, the sixth seed, defeated Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-4.
With Monday’s wins for Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper, this week marks the first time since 2005 that four Britons have each won their first-round match at Queen’s.
Athletes at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics must eat alone, be tested daily, and refrain from talking in confined spaces such as elevators under tough and joyless new Covid rules announced by organisers on Tuesday.
The 11,000 competitors at the Games, along with support staff and media, have also been told they cannot speak to a driver in an official vehicle – and will face the threat of fines, disqualification, medals being taken away and even deportation for repeated or “malicious” offences.
Worryingly for Team GB, organisers also said they are considering a six-day hard quarantine for athletes and media coming from the 10 countries where the growth of the Delta variant is significant. However it is understood that the British Olympic Association and the International Olympic Committee are hopeful that such drastic action will not be required when athletes arrive in around a month’s time.
Responding to a question about whether people coming from red list countries, such as the UK, would require six days in hard quarantine, a Tokyo Games spokesperson said: “Quarantine for six days is required for some countries where the same treatment will be imposed on athletes and media. We wanted to make sure we have a countermeasure with variants.
“Now the Japanese government and the IOC and International Paralympic Committee [IPC] are currently in ongoing discussions about what our countermeasures will be during the Games. Our perspective is that we have to make it absolutely a safe Games because they will come to Japan to compete, and we want to make sure the process is not too impactful for them performing. So these are the things that we are looking at.”
Version three of the IOC’s and IPC’s playbook for the Games also tells athletes they must “avoid staying an unnecessarily long time in a space and refrain from talking in constrained areas such as elevators”. In dedicated Games vehicles, athletes must wear masks and “refrain from conversations” with the driver. The playbook also states that when eating meals, people must “keep 2 metres away from others unless instructed otherwise, or eat by yourself, keeping contacts to a minimum”.
However, organisers have confirmed that anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 will not be disqualified – and that they will still pick up a medal if they are entitled to one at the time.
Referring to events such as boxing and football where finals have a winner and a loser, the IOC’s sports director, Kit McConnell, added: “If an athlete would have taken part in a medal event but cannot, they will receive the minimum level of medal they would have received.
“For example, in a final they will receive a silver medal. That’s really important from our perspective to reflect the minimum level that athlete or team would have achieved.”
A BOA spokesperson said: “We continue to have positive dialogue with the IOC and the Tokyo Organising Committee, following our letter to the President of Tokyo 2020. Our approach to additional testing measures and vaccinations for the delegation prior to departure and upon arrival demonstrate we are doing everything possible to minimise any risk to the people of Japan.”