Andy Murray embarked on his third comeback on Thursday, after nearly five months away from his obsession – and, against all expectations, he and his Spanish friend, Feliciano López, beat the best doubles team in the world, Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah.
Murray fell once, rolling athletically, and did not limp or grimace at any time. He smiled and joked with López. He nearly decapitated Cabal. And he competed as fiercely as he always has done. So he won, regardless, and, barring any mishaps in the next round, he will be fit to continue his return from hip surgery when he plays at Eastbourne next week with Marcelo Melo.
The performance and the reaction were always going to be more important than the result – which went their way 7-6 (5), 6-3 in an hour and a quarter in front of a raucous early-evening crowd on Centre Court – and, on that count, Murray passed his own examination. There is no reason he should not play singles at the highest level again; winning a title is the bigger challenge, and it is too early to make a call on that.
Murray revealed afterwards he would play doubles at Wimbledon, which starts on 1 July, with the four-times slam champion Pierre-Hugues Herbert (who won and lost in US Open finals against Andy’s brother, Jamie, and Bruno Soares). He said he was keen to play mixed, adding with a smile: “I have spoken to a couple of players, but I’ve been rejected a couple of times so far.”
As for the match, he said: “I learned quite a bit tonight. I expected to be the worst player on the court and to not feel particularly good on the court; I was prepared to feel that way, which was probably the case in the first set. But I think I started to play better in the second and started to serve better, see the returns better. I have zero discomfort in my hip – like, nothing. If I had done this last year, I’d be here aching, throbbing, and feel bad the next day.
“I’ll just keep pushing and see how it goes, but I feel optimistic about the future. I don’t know how long it will take to get to that level, but hopefully not too long.”
Looking slim and fit a month after his 32nd birthday, Murray was sharp in his reactions, struck the ball cleanly – at times brilliantly – and, while it was hard to compare his movement on a doubles court to what he will need to find when playing singles, he travelled over the tricky grass with purpose and certainty. He served conservatively, mostly around 110mph, at the start until he warmed up to an impressive 129mph in the second set.
López – who has had the added burden this week of denying involvement in an alleged betting scam at Wimbledon two years ago – could only grin sheepishly as they benefited from three net cords in the first-set tie-break, but Murray wrapped it up with a belting forehand winner, so there was the familiar quotient of drama and excitement.
In the second set, Murray found two cracking returns down the line as they went 4-2 up, incurred a time violation and served them through a minor crisis. Farah held comfortably to keep his side in the tournament. However, behind López’s left-handed serve, Murray found a feathery tap down the empty line of exquisite precision as they brought their debut to a pleasing conclusion.
It has been one crazy week at Queen’s, and day four was probably the craziest. Nicolas Mahut, the gentlest of gentlemen, hit a ballgirl in the face with a practice serve and made her cry. Stefanos Tsitsipas, who grew up on the hard courts of Greece, fell in love with the grass and the fans and then almost crashed out of the tournament. And poor Juan Martín del Potro announced he was going under the knife yet again, which might well end his career.
The poignancy of Del Potro’s sympathy for Andy Murray’s struggle with recurring injury in an interview with the Guardian last week hit home when the Argentinian with the long, loping stride and the kindly heart had to admit on Thursday he was losing his own fight against serial pain in his right kneecap. That originally was the result of a tumble in China last October, exacerbated here in the first round when he slipped on the grass while beating Denis Shapovalov.
He has consulted surgeons in London and will have his umpteenth operation, “in the next couple of days”. The man who won his only slam 10 years ago in New York will have the good wishes of the tennis world with him.
After the near-washout of Wednesday, the players shuttled back and fourth on all available courts. Tsitsipas embraced the grass, the tournament and the fans after beating the British No 1, Kyle Edmund, 6-3, 7-5 in an hour and 23 minutes.
“I’m glad that I’ve come here as the No 1 seed and that people love me, people support me, despite not being British. The courts are great. The lawn is one of the most traditional, most well kept surfaces in tennis.”
Edmund, meanwhile, heads for Eastbourne after his brief workout, relieved that his troublesome knee had not reacted badly to the switch from clay to grass.
It seems wherever Mahut goes lately, there are children and tears; at Roland Garros, the Frenchman’s seven-year-old son, Natanel, ran on to the court to console him after he’d lost to Leonardo Mayer, and they left, tearfully, to a standing ovation, with his conqueror applauding as they went. On Thursday, Mahut accidentally struck a ballgirl in the face with a practice serve during his match against Stan Wawrinka, and was admonished by the chair umpire. This time, the girl left the court in tears.
Mahut, who was disconsolate, could at least take comfort in his 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (2) win over Wawrinka to earn a third-round match against his compatriot, Gilles Simon, who beat the recovering Wimbledon finalist, Kevin Anderson, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
