ANDY’S LOGJAM
Murray faces a crazy week after debut with Serena is postponed
Andy Murray faces the prospect of an even more hectic Wimbledon second week than expected after his mixed doubles debut alongside Serena Williams was postponed last night.
Their much anticipated appearance had to be put off after american teenager Coco Gauff recovered to take her Centre Court singles match into a deciding set that she didn’t wrap up until after 8pm.
With Williams already scheduled to play her third-round singles today at 1pm and suddenly facing an unacceptably late night, the referee had no option but to remove the all-star duo from the programme.
It means Murray will play both men’s and mixed doubles today, with the latter being fitted into the schedule at some point once the singles matches are out of the way.
He could have to play a maximum 11 matches in nine days. With Sunday a compulsory day off that might amount to considerable fixture congestion.
Since coming back at the FeverTree Championships at Queen’s Club nearly three weeks ago, Murray has been introduced to the vagaries experienced every week by doubles players. This involves being shunted around the programme and being at the mercy of what happens in singles, which always takes precedence. It happened several times at Queen’s, when most of his matches went on until the sun was going down.
He did at least get on court with Williams yesterday, for a 50-minute hit, in which they could have worked out basic strategies ahead of their first- round against Germany’s andreas Mies and Chile’s alexa Guarachi.
Today he will be back at the all England Club for his double shift, which is expected to begin around 1pm on Court Two in the men’s doubles second round when he and Pierre Hugues Herbert will take on nikola Mektic and Franko Skugor, the no 6 seeds from Croatia.
There will be no meeting of the Murrays in the men’s doubles this year after Jamie’s partnership with neal Skupski hit an early bump in the road. The British duo were resuming their first-round match at two sets to one up after bad light forced them off on Thursday night.
But their experienced opponents Ivan dodig and Filip Polasek played an hour of brutal and quite brilliant tennis on Court 18 yesterday to turn the match around.
‘yeah they came out firing,’ said Murray, 29. ‘We were unfortunate we had to come off for darkness. I thought we had the momentum.
‘It’s always difficult coming back, conditions are totally different, a lot warmer today rather than the evening yesterday so the ball was flying through the air a lot quicker.’
Skupski struck a rather downbeat note and it sounds as if this fledgling partnership has not got off on the best foot. Murray ended his successful three-year alliance with Brazilian Bruno Soares after the French Open and took up with Skupski, but in three tournaments they are yet to go beyond the second round.
‘ It’s been going all right,’ said Skupski. ‘I think our game styles will match up pretty well. He’s more crafty, he’s a good volleyer and then with my returns, hard hitting from the back, good serve. We’re just going to have to keep going.’
Skupski insisted he and Murray are ‘in it for the long haul’ together, but said: ‘ Jamie’s top 10, I’m top 30 so we’ll need to see what happens but obviously we need to start putting results together.’
Murray had more joy later with his more established mixed doubles partner Bethanie Mattek- Sands, coming from a break down in both sets to beat British pair Joe Salisbury and Katy dunne 7-5, 7-6.
Murray said that the superstar pairing of andy and Serena will serve to highlight a format that is often seen as a sideshow. ‘It’s great for the draw,’ he said. ‘It’s put a lot more spotlight on the mixed doubles than there normally is.’