It was just another week in the everyday story of the life of a defending champion. And when that champion is Andy Murray, the story has more twists and turns than a switchback ride.
Murray survived – and we use the term advisedly – a four-set nail-biter against Fabio Fognini to reach the fourth round 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, but it was touch and go for most of the two hours and 39 minutes it took for the two to settle their differences. Murray will play Frenchman Benoit Paire in the fourth round on Monday.
“When you are playing a guy who has all of the shots like him, it’s difficult,” Murray said. “He generates power with very short swings – it’s difficult to see when he’s going to hit the ball big. He was taking me out of my rhythm.
“Obviously the end of the match was tense, I maybe saved five set points there. Then a tight game to break him as well at the 5-5 game. And then I served it out really well to finish, but it was a very up and down match. I didn’t feel like it was the best tennis at times. It was a little bit tense today but I managed to get through.”
Then again, the past six months have been much the same for Murray. The problem was that he had set himself a blistering standard to live up to in the second half of last year. Between leaving the French Open, beaten in the final by Novak Djokovic, and the end of the season, he lost just three matches. And collected eight titles (adding the Italian Open trophy he won at the start of May). He was all but unbeatable and he was clearly the best player on the planet.
Coming back to do it all again was going to take a mind like a steel trap and a body like Superman’s. And not even the all-conquering Murray could boast those powers 24-7.
This year he has been felled by (and we are going in chronological order here), the beginnings of shingles at the Australian Open, an elbow injury in Indian Wells which also caused him to pull out of Miami, flu while he was packing to come home from Miami, a heavy cold as he prepared for the French Open and his sore hip as he prepared for The Championships. So comprehensive has been the coverage of the Scot’s most recent injury that Murray’s hips are probably more famous now than Marilyn Monroe’s.
When you are playing a guy who has all of the shots like him, it’s difficult
No matter: when he began his campaign here, he looked fit and spry and looked to be ready to drive deep into the heart of the tournament. And then he bumped into Fognini.
A couple of months ago in Rome, Fognini did for Murray in straight sets in the second round. Murray was a long way below his best but Fognini was playing a blinder – and there are days when the world No.29 can be absolutely brilliant but then there are days when he can self-combust. It is hardly surprising that his clothing sponsor chose him to wear their kit: their logo is a pirate’s scull.
No one, not even Fognini, is sure what is going to happen on any given day but all opponents know that it is best to be on their guard at all times.
Day Five of The Championships, as it turned out, was a perfect demonstration of everything the Italian has to offer. Three double faults in the final game of the first set was not pretty and neither was dropping his own serve, having just broken Murray at the start of the second set (that brought on a bout of racket throwing that earned him a code violation).
At the same time, the second set was not Murray’s finest moment, either. His first serve stuttered, his intensity dropped and he got himself into all sorts of bother. But once it was over and Fognini had levelled the score, the world No.1 rebooted. His first serve percentage climbed into the 70s, his focus was pin-point sharp and he was ready to chase the Italian off the premises.
He was helped in this endeavour by Fognini’s misfortune. He tweaked his ankle in the middle of the third set and hobbled about for a bit before he opted to call the trainer. But by that point he was already a break of serve down and within moments of getting back to work, he was two breaks down. The set was gone in a flash.
The Italian firebrand was nowhere near finished with Murray, though. He was now moving better after having his ankle taped and he was backing himself to take risks – and a lot of them were coming off. He did manage to get a point penalty for a ‘visual obscenity’ (which was a new one to most of the people on Centre Court) but he also had five set points to take the match to a deciding set.
Murray was looking by turns furious, fired up or fraught. From 5-2 down, the champion dragged himself back to 5-5. He had a break point for 6-5 (Fognini whipped it away with a rifled winner into the corner). He had another break point and this time Murray would not let it escape him. Now, at last, he could serve for the match and end this torture. That he did with an ace and three service winners. It was over and 15,000 Centre Court fans could breathe again.
