Three years ago, he would struggle mightily to even push this match beyond a straight set defeat. If it was held two years ago, he would have emulated his run on empty effort just like he did against Marcos Baghdatis. And if he had played this encounter with Richard Gasquet last year instead of being injured, Andy Murray would have surly became more negative than Gordon Brown’s approval rating.
All of those results, no matter their various characteristics, would make you believe that the Murray you saw on Centre Court today is a bloke that hijacked the body of Scotland’s (and England’s, Wales’ and Northern Island’s) great hope. Because there would have been no way the one known as “Moping Murray” (labeled that dubious moniker in hypocrisy by Patrick McEnroe since Andy Roddick can be accused of doing the same sometimes) came from two sets down the way he did to win the match of his career. Way more so than his straight set mastery of Roddick in 2006, the new golden man of British tennis’ comeback victory over Gasquet is a full testament to his new found self-belief and obvious maturity.
He could have easily gave up and given his Wimbledon aspirations of getting deep into the second week up to the ghost with the way things transpired in the initial two sets. Gasquet once again displayed again for a second consecutive year how grass somehow shows to the world why he is a mercurial talent. Despite all his cons, to dismiss his pros while he is still just 22 years of age is foolhardy to say the least. It was an impressive display from the Frenchman in the beginning of the match all the way to its official middle. He was serving like he was 6’4 and 195 pounds instead of his 6’1,160 pound frame, and did a brilliant job of making Murray look about as valuable on his return of serve as, well, we won’t bring up a certain American again for the third time now.
And with him mixing, bombing, or just being strong with his delivery, it propelled Gasquet to sometimes even hit his forehand bigger than his backhand, winning the crucial “whose going to stay right on the baseline” battle essential to success in this sport. Heck, throw in perfectly timed serve and volleys to counter Murray’s short returns, and it looked like the semifinalist from last year was going to dash the hopes of the British fans who thought a new Murray had arisen.
However, just like he did throughout the whole match in serve games that went to deuce because of a bad forehand or backhand into the net, Murray tested the fans patience and hopes to the highest maximum in the turning point of the match. With Gasquet serving for a most impressive straight set win at 5-4 in the third with no breaks against one of the premiere breakers on the tour, Murray didn’t cast any slump shoulders or any other disconsolate body language. On the contrary, Murray began to show the new sides of him: a stay positive spirit amalgamated with a significantly updated endurance odometer.
Yes, Gasquet got tight, real tight. He double faulted to give Murray a second life to even the set at five-all, but Murray didn’t give up his first life neither in this match. He forced that break in this battle’s turning point by staying aggressive with his backhand return and securing a love-40 lead. And after missing on the first two chances, the gift from the eighth seed was the opening that Murray finally received on his opponent’s serve.
“I think he got a little nervous at the end of the third set.”
The fans, obviously with Murray from the get-go, erupted when he finally received that coveted break. They would explode even more with the brilliance the United Kingdom’s number one displayed in the tiebreak, clinching what turned out to be the middle set with a one handed backhand pass while he was going well off the court. One word to perfectly illustrate the moment?
Ridiculous.
It propelled Murray to higher heights as Gasquet went disproportional to the ascending Dunblane resident. A fourth set rout set the stage for the papers to write their 50 page accounts of this historic moment for Wimbledon history. And through some mental credit must also be given to Gasquet (definitely a sentence that you can’t believe you will actually write at this or any other moment in his career so far) for not folding in the third set, Murray will surly deserve to feel he has a chance against Rafael Nadal. He was clinical in the ultimate set, with the numbers supporting that statement: five aces, no double faults, 18 winners to nine unforced errors. He only faced one break point in the set and handled it the way of a player having that possible career defining moment.
The emotion was just terrific form all constituents in the final match on Centre Court today. Gasquet played the tennis that still shows he has the talent to win Grand Slams if he can get ever get even a sniff of a champion’s mentality. The crowd, who has for now put an end to any uneasiness they may have felt about Murray, was about as terrific as you would want a home audience to be. Most importantly however, the reason for both Gasquet and the fans deserving praise is all due to the world number 11 into his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Murray brought the best out of the former junior world number one and those who paid to watch him hopefully continue his run. He certainly did that.
On his upcoming match with the Spaniard, Murray favors his chances much higher than most do. “When I played him on the faster courts I had a chance to beat him, “he said to the BBC after the match. “And I feel I’m a lot better player and I’m certainly much fitter.” Based on his demolition of Mikhail Youzhny on Court 1, no natural is favoring Murray to prevent Nadal in his road to a possible third final against Roger Federer. In fact, most may feel that he won’t push Nadal the distance despite almost doing that at last year’s Australian Open.
They were also probably the ones who felt Murray was still susceptible to moments of horrendous posture, before they witnessed his second two sets to none comeback victory in his career today. And maybe realized, at least for one match, this is a different Andy Murray who won’t mope when the going gets tough anymore.
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