Binos still looking at transfer business
Murray crashes out in Oz as speculation grows
Was it his last game? Will we see him at Wimbledon?
Only Andy Murray has the answers to those questions but if Monday’s epic against Roberto Bautista-Agut is to be his swan-song, then he definitely went out on a high.
At two sets to nil down, it looked like he would leave the court meekly in a straight sets defeat but the fighting spirit which saw him win three Grand Slams, two Olympic gold medals, a Nitto ATP Finals victory and a year-end No. 1 ATP rankings finish in 2016, came to the fore.
He battled back to win the third set on a tiebreak then repeated the dose in the fourth to have the Melbourne crowd – and the millions watching him around the world on television – willing him on to make one final effort.
It had been an emotional few days for the Dunblane ace who on Friday announced that he plans to, at the latest, retire at Wimbledon this year due to chronic hip problems. But it became clear when Bautista Agut took a double-break lead that he would eventually advance.
Murray didn’t give up, however, and when serving at 1-5 in the fifth set, with the match approaching the four-hour mark, the crowd was giving him a deafening standing ovation.
“I was emotional at that moment,” he said afterwards. “It was cool. I don’t think I’ve had that before in any matches.
“I don’t know if when I came to serve at Wimbledon for Wimbledon, I don’t know if that happened.
“It was brilliant. The atmosphere the whole match was amazing. I loved it. I’m really Stirling Albion manager Kevin Rutkiewicz has not ruled out adding to his squad despite a busy week in the transfer window. Saturday’s 2-1 win over Annan kept the feelgood factor going and the Binos are at home again this weekend appreciative that the people gave me that atmosphere to play in. I really enjoyed it.”
His efforts against the Spanish No 22 seed may have given him hope of playing at Wimbledon and he’ll decided in the next week or so if he’ll have the hip operation he needs to continue.
“Guys have done it before,” he said. “Some other athletes have given it a go. There’s no guarantees. That’s the decision I have to make, that possibility of not having one more match by having the operation.”
Big brother Jamie goes into the Australian Open with confidence after he and doubles partner Bruno Soares won the Sydney International event at the weekend, defeating top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah (both Colombia) 6-4 6-3.
The duo won their first Grand Slam title in 2016 at the Australian Open and in round one, the third seeds meet Roman Jebavy (Czech Republic) and Andres Molteni (Argentine). when Queen’s Park are the visitors to Forthbank. Two new arrivals – midfielder Max Ashmore and central defender Jordan McGregor– put pen to paper until the end of the season while goalkeeper Calum Ferrie’s loan deal from Dundee has been extended until the summer and the same could happen with Hamilton Accies midfielder Ronan Hughes. Skipper Ross McGeachie, defender Kyle Banner, midfielder Danny Jardine and utility player Cammy Thomson have all recently agreed new contracts until the end of 2019/20 while striker Dylan Mackin, signed from Falkirk in October, has extended his stay until the end of the current campaign.
Stirling Albion have also been linked with a move for forward Max Wright, who left Annan at the end of last week and can count Clyde and East Stirlingshire among his former clubs.
Ashmore, 20, made nine appearances for Stranraer this season before dropping out of the picture and was previously with Rangers and Ross County. He made his debut as a substitute in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Annan, which made it three wins on the bounce for Stirling.
McGregor, 21, spent the first half of this season with the Aberdeen reserve squad – he has also played for Hibernian, Hamilton Accies and Airdrieonians.
Rutkiewicz (pictured) said: “Max came on and it was a bit chaotic at first but he settled down and I thought he did great in a difficult situation with 10 men.
“With Dom (Docherty) now suspended it could be a window for him to come in right away.
“Jordan McGregor has come into the squad but Ross McGeachie and Kyle Banner were outstanding on Saturday. I now have two quality centre-backs sitting on my bench in Jordan and Jason Marr so the boys playing know they are accountable.”
Looking back at the weekend win Rutkiewicz said: “I think we deserved it. I felt at 1-0 we were the better team but then we conceded a sloppy goal. Even with 10 men, though, we saw off the physical threat that was coming.