Andy Murray lives to fight another day

Andy Murray expected an easy passage into the third round, after passing a tough test in the first, in the form of Nick Kyrgios. But, his 2nd round victory against Adrian Mannarino was anything but that. The Brit had to hang in there for 3 hours 17 minutes before completing a 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. Here, we take a look at 4 of the talking points from that entertaining 5 set victory.

Murray Stretched

Murray has only played 2 rounds and has already been on court for 6 hours. Contrast to his rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer who are yet to break a sweat and the first 2 rounds have been strolls in the park for them. This could prove counter productive when the tournament reaches its business end and Murray will be on his last legs (pun unintended). But, in this soul crushing heat, Murray would do well to make short work of his initial round matches.

Mental Resilience

Murray’s pragmatic defensive game plus his mental fortitude make him a joy to watch if you are one who roots for the sticklers who dig deep and wait for the tide to turn. Someone like a Hewitt. Oh, and not to forget, his incredible physical condition. He was 2 sets down and looked like a man who’d be anywhere but here on a tennis court, until he sprang to life in the beginning of the 3rd Set itself and never gave up.

Weak Murray Second Serve

This fact has been brought up many times but it still persists. Murray has a terribly weak second serve and this really haunts him when it comes to matches against big players. The pasting Federer served him in the Wimbledon SF is still fresh in memory and a lot of it was down to how Federer anticipated the second serve with a lot of aggression and approached it with the same. This puts Murray under tremendous stress as he has to make up for it each time, with his game.

Marathon Man Murray

Andy Murray has now completed 8 comebacks from 2 sets down, equalling Roger Federer’s record and the Swiss is 6 years older than him. Again, it all boils down to the mental strength, physical toughness, ability to hang in there and the attitude. Murray has these by the bucketloads and it’ll be interesting to see if he can go on to win the tournament where he won a memorable Final in 2012 to break his Grand Slam duck.