Burns Night had long given way to Australia Day when Andy Murray, a Scot of enduring independence in more ways than one, secured a quarter-final date on Tuesday evening against Nick Kyrgios, the charismatic teenager from Canberra who has set this tournament – and the game in general – on fire.
Nobody creates drama with quite the panache and perversity that Murray can conjure; and few of the new generation of players have the shots, brio or potential of Kyrgios, who beat Roger Federer’s executioner, Andreas Seppi, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 8-6 in a little over three-and-a-half hours. A couple of hours later, Murray took care of Federer’s alleged like-for-like successor, Grigor Dimitrov, in four sets of more intensity but in only a few minutes fewer. So theirs should be an encounter to cherish.
To reach the final eight for the sixth time in a row, Murray had to play some inspired tennis to come back from 2-5 down in the final set, winning 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 against the player who wrecked his quarter-final at Wimbledon last year. This time he left the Bulgarian mentally and physically wrecked just when he might have imagined he was taking a match of fluctuating fortunes into a fifth set.
After his final forehand clipped the net and fell kindly, Murray was relieved, relaxed and up for some ribbing by the on-court TV interviewer, revealing he might wear a “free-balling” kilt for his wedding to Kim Sears later this year. He knows, however, there is a lot of hard work left to do in the second week – starting with Kyrgios.
“He’s dangerous, he’s unpredictable, he’s entertaining, he’s a good athlete, moves well and he’s explosive on the court, so he’s got a lot of things going for him,” Murray said. “The crowd will be right behind him, understandably so. They’re going to watch him play a lot of matches like this over the next 10, 15 years probably and that’s just something that I’ll have to deal with in my way. I’ve played in the French Open against French players where the crowd can be very difficult.”
Kyrgios, 53rd in the world, could go as high as 25 if he progresses to the semi-finals – and then the hysteria really would get out of hand.
“I definitely believe I can do it,” said the youngest quarter-finalist here since Andrei Cherkasov in 1990. The Russian never blossomed, though, and he retired 10 years later with only two titles to his name. Kyrgios has bigger ambitions than that.
There is little doubt he will one day be a consistently fine player, maybe eventually a great one.
All the shots are there, as well razor-sharp tactical awareness, courage in the shot and a potent serve. However, while his demeanour is that of the dead-eyed gunslinger, he showed signs of frustration with some high-grade expletives, a racket smash and once throwing his water bottle away – which was at odds with his super-controlled mood when recovering from poor positions in his previous match against Malek Jaziri.
This was a different level again, though, and Seppi, still high from beating Federer, looked on course for victory when the younger player wasted too many chances in the first two sets. Then the fightback began, going all the way to the wire in the fifth set.
If Murray defeats Kyrgios – and he should – he will play either Rafael Nadal or Tomas Berdych in the semi-final, and there are intriguing storylines in each of those encounters.
Nadal, who looked strong beating Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 in just over two hours, has won 15 of his 20 matches against Murray but they are one apiece in this tournament, Murray winning their last match here in 2010, when he went on to reach the final against Federer.
As for Berdych, it would surely be strange for Murray to look up at his opponent’s box on Tuesday and see Dani Vallverdu, with whom he parted company with in November, sitting there in support of the Czech.
Berdych, who beat Bernard Tomic 6-2, 7-6, 6-2 in fine style, said he has enjoyed working with Murray’s former assistant coach, who came to him on the recommendation of Ivan Lendl, who quit Murray’s camp last March.
“The good thing is that I’m able to execute the things that he’s telling me, how to set up for the matches. So far it works pretty well.
“I think it’s definitely the advantage which I was surely looking for. He is very good [at scouting opponents before a match]. He knows how to put up the plan before the match and how to prepare the player. That’s the positive what I was looking for and what I needed.”
Berdych might be lightly considered in their quarter-final – but certainly not by the Spaniard.
“Doesn’t matter what happened in the past,” Nadal said. “Is different story this time. Different moment for me; different moment for him. He’s a great player. I remember in 2012 I had a very, very tough match against him here. I was close to being two sets to love down.”
There are times when Nadal’s humble schtick can grate but taking a low-key assessment has, historically, helped him find his best tennis.
He is dangerous again.
