Probably not since he was a junior has Andy Murray been drafted into a
tennis match as late as he was for the mixed doubles here on Thursday, when he and Heather Watson beat David Ferrer and Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-3, 6-3,
long after many of the casual fans had drifted into the night.
Only an hour or so after Murray had warmed down from his tough three-setter against Fabio Fognini to earn a place in Friday’s singles quarter-finals, he and Watson were told the Romanians Monica Niculescu and Florin Mergea had withdrawn. Mergea wants to save his energy for the men’s doubles final, after he and Horia Tecau had beaten the Americans Jack Sock and Steven Johnson (Murray’s opponent in Friday’s singles quarter-finals).
Those computations are a fair reflection of the hectic nature of Olympic
tennis. The mixed doubles is really tacked on to the other disciplines,
when teams and the draw are finalised after any residual mayhem in the
singles has been taken into account.
There was further late chaos when Rafael Nadal, through to the next rounds
in singles and men’s doubles, also pulled out of the mixed. His exit –
after the exertions of winning in singles and men’s doubles earlier in the day – left Garbine Muguruza without a partner and handed a walkover to the Czechs Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradecka, as there were no alternates left. It is far from ideal to have an Olympic event disrupted in such a haphazard way.
Murray could not have imagined he and Watson would be hurled into the draw so late, given they were two off the cut. But the withdrawal of the Serbians on Wednesday and the Romanians on Thursday changed all that. No sooner had Murray fulfilled his media obligations after beating Fognini, he
was advised to get warmed up again.
As for the match, the day-time wind on the expansive acreage of Centre
Court had subsided, but not the intensity. On a mild night under clear
skies, the British pair – who would have teamed up in London, had Murray
not chosen to play with Laura Robson (going on to take silver) – clicked
immediately.
They kept their momentum going to win 6-3, 6-3, and will be back on court on Friday to face India. Meanwhile out on Court 4, Murray’s brother, Jamie, and Jo Konta – who’d not long endured the disappointment of losing to Angelique Kerber in the women’s singles final – struggled against Jack Sock and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The Americans won 6-4, 6-3.
