Almost a year to the day since Andy Murray sat alone in a Brisbane hotel room for more than 10 hours contemplating his future he survived another comeback, with an encouraging and impressive straight-sets win over the Australian wildcard James Duckworth.
However, the former world No 1 knows – and all the evidence confirms – he has some way to go before he can challenge seriously for major honours. Only two of his five wins from 12 matches in 2018 were against top-20 players and he now faces the world No 16, Daniil Medvedev, in the second round of the Brisbane International.
This is a place in which he feels comfortable, though, having won the title twice and where he remains unbeaten in 10 matches. He would love another win but his focus must remain on his performance, which was too good for the world No 234, who lost to him in four sets in the first round of the US Open in September.
Murray quit the Tour after losing to Fernando Verdasco – in the second round at Flushing Meadows, then in the quarter-finals in Shenzhen. It was the end of a troubled campaign, which stuttered before it even began when Murray pulled out of this event to have hip surgery in Melbourne.
Before winning 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and a half on Tuesday Murray had said: “I think last year I was in more pain than I am just now … I’ve had a year of going through quite a lot, so I’ve accepted where I am and how I’m going to feel. Last year I was hoping I was going to get much, much better. Then I ended up having surgery and I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen. That was tough but I want to try to enjoy myself over here. I missed playing here last year. I’m going to go out and compete as hard as I can.”
Afterwards his on-court verdict was more emotional, admitting he did not know what the future held for him in the sport. “It’s not easy to sort of sum up in one sentence or one answer,” he said. “It’s been a really hard 18 months, a lot of ups and downs – it’s been tricky to just get back on the court competing again.
“So I’m happy I’m back out here again. I want to just try and enjoy playing tennis as long as I can. I don’t know how much longer it’s going to last but we’ll see.
“I thought I did quite well. For the first match of the new year after quite a long break it was all right.”
Still Murray looked at least top-30 class – as Roger Federer described his form in the spluttering return he attempted last summer. While that is good enough to beat such as Duckworth Murray will have to stretch his sinews and his will against Medvedev, the 22-year-old Russian who won three times on Tour last year and is seeded fourth in the draw. They have never met.
Mentally Murray has been in upbeat mood in the company of his peers in Brisbane, celebrating New Year’s Eve with a smile on his face behind ridiculous glasses.
Physically it remains a different story, illustrated by his post-match comments. After operating on Murray at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne last January, John O’Donnell, the surgeon who saved his career, told Channel7 News: “I’m sure if anyone can do well after this kind of surgery Andy can because he’s the most motivated person you’d ever meet.”
At the weekend O’Donnell, who has known Murray for a decade, admitted for the first time that Murray will have to live with the hip pain for the rest of his life. “He’s been walking a tightrope for some time,” he told BBC Sportsweek.
“It had reached a point where he couldn’t play. It wasn’t really at a stage where we could attempt to make his hip normal. It was just to try and make it as much better as we could. He’s certainly improved but he still has ongoing problems with it. It’s just his intense desire to do well that’s kept him going as well as he has.”
That level did not disappoint in Brisbane. Duckworth tested Murray’s mobility forward and sideways – and, at least in hunting down drop-shots, the Scot was superb. He saved four of five break points with his familiar scrambling energy and got his first break point of the match with a charge to the net and delightful crosscourt chip. He sealed the break by forcing a limp response from the Australian but dropped his own serve immediately – still a bad habit – then broke twice again for a solid win.
There remains concern about his lateral movement, and that is something he is going to have to live with. The better players will be merciless in exploiting the obvious trouble he has in switching direction across the baseline, which was always one of his strengths. If he can adapt his game to minimise those moments of stress, he will have to attack more to kill the point before it grows into an old-fashioned war of attrition.
The days of grinding are surely gone for Murray. While O’Donnell has obviously done an excellent job on reshaping his hip to alleviate the pain and allow him improved movement, the limp looks permanent. Murray will have to find another way to win at the highest level. In Brisbane on Tuesday, the first day of a new year, he showed he is up for the fight. Whether he can reproduce enough consistency against better opposition than Duckworth even Murray does not yet know.
As ever he will keep his followers in a state of animated suspense.
