Hard labour for weary Murray
AFTER four hours and 54 minutes of what can only be described as labour, Andy Murray once again delivered.
Four weeks of nappies and sleepless nights would take their toll on anybody so perhaps we should forgive the 28- year- old new parent for being even tetchier than usual. His concentration was regularly broken by far too many bad line calls for a tournament of this stature.
Inexcusably, the organisers’ failure to train stewards only to let spectators into their seats at change of play regularly held up proceedings.
The lateness of some of Kei Nishikori’s challenges was doing nothing to ease Murray’s mood – at one point he had actually made it back to his chair before an 11th- hour appeal was upheld by Hawkeye and Murray had to put down his towel, gather up his thoughts again and win a tight game he thought he had clinched all over again.
In the nervous fifth set Murray’s concentration was interrupted by a phone call in the auditorium. Braying laughter from one lady spectator as he threw the ball up to serve earned a very dismissive scowl.
A code violation for breaking his racket on his foot had come as early in the second set and he was clearly mindful of the additional threat of a point deduction every time he went to throw his ball down in disgust. In the end, it all became part of the drama .
After his brief spell of blissful paternity leave, Murray was back in the offi ce, once again tasked with carrying the hopes of the nation . The transition seemed more diffi cult than usual, but the determination is still very much there.
“I wouldn’t say I didn’t enjoy it as much,” he said. “It did feel a lot of the time that Kei was stopping till it was completely silent. Little things like that can frustrate you when you are tired . Under pressure and stress it is a completely normal thing to feel. But I just fought for four hours 54 minutes. It was one of the longest matches I have ever played in my life.
“I have been away from the court for five weeks. My body is very sore just now. I have put myself through a lot this weekend. I maybe wanted to win too much.
“I was getting frustrated when I wasn’t taking opportunities I should have. I deeply cared about today’s match and I expect that will stay the same throughout the rounds.” The only other time Murray has been on court as long was to beat Novak Djokovic to win the US Open in 2012. Now the pair are set to face each other in this competition when Great Britain travel to Belgrade in July for their quarter- final.
It was a close call for Serbia with the out- of- sorts Djokovic taking three minutes longer than Murray in his rubber to see off Khazakstan’s world No 79 Mikhail Kukushkin 6- 7, 7- 6, 4- 6, 6- 3, 6- 2. Their game was hard to call from the start, while for the fi rst two hours in Birmingham, everything seemed to be going Murray’s way. Nishikori double- faulted twice in the 12th game to give Murray the chance to clinch the opening set. The second set went to a tie- break but Murray managed to get through it comfortably enough to build up a two- set advantage.
Aside from the interruptions, the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham seemed strangely quiet. Murray was some way short of the exhibition tennis he produced in Ghent to lift the Davis Cup in the first place and now, when he appeared to be hitting something of a wall, he needed a lift.
Instead, it was Nishikori who was getting growing pockets of Japanese fans excited as he picked away at his deficit.
Things became even more muted in the fifth set when Nishikori broke to win the opening game.
Murray finally found some of the very best shots in his locker but still the world No 6 would not lie down, both men trading breaks until Murray finally held his nerve – and his serve – to gain a 5- 2 advantage.
“One more game! “chanted the crowd but yesterday everything was taking longer than expected and it was indeed two games before Nishikori hit his final shot wide and it was time to break out the cigars.