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Murray Dodges Bullet To Keep Brisbane Title Hopes Alive
10 Comments · Posted by Staff in Articles
By Jayita Belcourt
Andy Murray has yet again dodged a bullet to keep alive his dreams of winning the first ATP tournament of the year in preparation for the Australian Open. The 26 year old put on an impressive display to secure a place in the semi-finals after a straight set victory 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) over Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in Brisbane today.
Though the match lasted just one hour and 37 minutes, Murray was clearly pushed to his limits. Trailing 5-4 in the second set, Murray’s frustration was visibly evident through his mounting unforced errors. Known for his “colourful†array of language on court, today was no exception.
Adamant that the weather conditions were affecting play, the reigning 2012 London Olympic Gold Medalist and US Open Champion was able to maintain his focus and determination. In a decisive tie-breaker that saw him shrug off a 2-0 lead from Istomin, Murray won 7 of the next 8 points to secure the match.
“It was quite a tough time of day to play on this court because of the shadows. It’s quite hard to track the ball sometimes. I had a couple of opportunities and just mis-hit shots that I wouldn’t normally mis-hit,†Murray said.
“It’s hard to track the ball when it’s coming in and out of different lights. It’s on the serve as well, you know, and the crowd, too. So there are a lot of things that can sort of throw your eye off a little bit. In tennis, a split second makes a big differenceâ€.
“You want to, if you can, finish matches off in two sets. I had a little opportunity there at the end of the second which I didn’t take, so I was frustrated with that because I wasn’t timing the ball as I would have liked. But I managed to stay focused in the tiebreak and played a good breakerâ€.
Murray, who is the defending champion in Brisbane, had a sluggish start to the tournament following the 2012 season end. Narrowly defeating Australian qualifier John Millman in a close three set encounter 6-1, 5-7,6-3 on Thursday, the Scotsman knows he needs to lift his game and his intensity.
“It’s just more rather than being rusty it’s just getting the intensity back. When you’re practicing it’s hard to replicate match situations,†Murray explains.
“You don’t have those nerves on the break points or 30 All points or the end of sets. You don’t have that in practice, and they’re the things that take a while to get back into the rhythm of playingâ€.
Murray will take on Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the semi-finals tomorrow. Nishikori, ATP ranked no. 19, put on an impressive display to outclass last year’s runner-up Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine in straight sets 6-4, 7-6.
Can the feisty Scotsman outclass the talented Japanese youngster? I’m banking on a close one but if Murray can clear out a few more “cob- webs†and sharpen up before his next match, he is going to be tough to beat.
Photo by Jayita Belcourt.
Murray ball vision marred by "shadows"
Scoop Malinowski · January 4, 2013 at 12:25 pm
Maybe Murray needs a looser shirt, looks like adidas accidentally gave him a small in the photo above. Murray should win but I’m taking Kei in the final. I see a big year for Kei coming. His historic title in Tokyo last fall could be the prelude.
Steve · January 4, 2013 at 12:46 pm
Gasquet in another final, Qatar, showcasing his new & improved toughness in the semi. Even if he loses the final he continues in the right direction.
Dan Markowitz · January 4, 2013 at 12:51 pm
You can’t make this stuff up–that’s why the tennis tour is like the traveling circus. Murray said in an interview that he would stop swearing, and now in his first event of the year, he was already heard swearing. Then Murray says he said he’d like to stop swearing, but not that he would. Come on, Murray not swearing would be like Steve Nash stopping exercising while he’s on the sidelines (if you haven’t seen Nash, when he gets taken out of game, he lies down near the bench and starts doing sit-ups and stretches).
The top players are expected to act like saints and that’s just not going to happen.
Scoop Malinowski · January 4, 2013 at 12:59 pm
Gasquet has had a consistent career, you gotta give him credit for maintaining his ranking in general, he has not had that big dropoff or any horrid losing streaks, that I can recall anyway.
Dan Markowitz · January 4, 2013 at 3:41 pm
This season, less than one week long, is already providing some head-scratchers. Djoko loses to Tomic? Whoa. And then Davydenko spanks Ferrer. Davy is 31 and hasn’t been a factor at the top for two years. But he steamrolls Ferrer. What next, Murray has already gone down to Tipsy, does he take the fall against Nishikori, too?
Scoop Malinowski · January 4, 2013 at 3:49 pm
Dimotrov took out Raonic too. Maybe we’re due for another Thomas Johansson shock winner. After all it is lucky year 13.
Steve · January 4, 2013 at 6:12 pm
Scoop, Gasquet yelled AND fist pumped today upon winning.
Scoop Malinowski · January 5, 2013 at 7:43 am
Steve it’s a pleasant surprise to read that. Unusual for Gasquet to show that kind of emotion, he’s usually very contained, reckon it will help him take it to the next level. Not having seen it, what was your reaction to seeing this emotional Gasquet display?
Dan Markowitz · January 5, 2013 at 9:31 am
Let’s not get too carried away by Gasquet, for godssakes, he just beat Daniel Brands to get into finals!
Steve · January 5, 2013 at 1:10 pm
Let’s! He’s been winning tourneys. His work with Piatti is going even better than I had anticipated. I had only thought #10 ranking now I think he will be #8 or #7 or #6
I hope Kolay isn’t too hurt. He’s really one of the greatest athletes I’ve ever seen. Hopefully he’ll also have a great year.
Scoop, my reaction was joy. Because intensity, fight and scrambling for the extra ball can make all the difference. He won while not playing his best tennis which is basically the key lesson Gilbert taught Agassi back in the 90s. Gasquet had a plan B today that worked.