Andy Murray: ‘I will decide when I’m ready’ on Wimbledon Participation after Wawrinka Triumph

Andy Murray won his first match in eleven months as he defeated Stan Wawrinka 6-1 6-3 in just his second match back from a serious hip injury.

This was a step up in class and step up in quality from the Brit in comparison to his first match back. Many questioned whether Murray could ever get back to a very good level on his return, but today provided the first real glimpses of the tennis that Murray is still capable of and in many ways it was an encouraging performance from the two-time Wimbledon champion.

Murray took an opening break in the fourth game of the first set to take a 3-1 lead. We saw his defensive backhand wing show signs of what it was capable of when he was playing his best tennis at the peak of his career and it was his ability to be able to carve so many forced errors out of Wawrinka that helped him in a very convincing first set. His most convincing set win since his return to the tour. The Brit then went on to win ten of the next eleven points as he kept the foot on the accelerator and lost just the one game in the first set.

In the second set we witnessed the difficulty in trying to get that first win under your belt when you have spent a long time away from competitive matches and a great deal of time away from coming through with the big match-wins on a regular basis. Murray claimed his first break lead to go up 3-2, but showed signs of nerves and signs of hesitancy on serve as he tried to close the big match in straight sets. At this point, Wawrinka was firing from the hip and playing all-or-nothing tennis as he tried to blast his way back into the match, but the Brit was mostly way too solid and mostly had control of the baseline exchanges, whether it was in defence or choosing the right moments to close the net and play the conditions perfectly. The two-time Wimbledon champion came through unscathed in a big game at 4-3 in the second set, where he saved four break points in a four deuce game, but kicked on from that moment and looked mightily pleased to beat a top player in just his second tournament back.

Murray was so efficient on his return of serve Monday. The Brit is at his best when he not only returns well, but anticipates the next play from his opponent, which he did dynamically in this particular encounter. His defence was something that consistently put Wawrinka in awkward positions and he managed to win the battle from the baseline by isolating the one-handed backhand of his opponent. Wawrinka was still miles off the pace and his level was not where it needs to be, but Murray neutralised a lot of Wawrinka’s strengths, particularly in the commanding first set that he won.

Murray talked to the press after his first win in eleven months and talked about how his body was holding up after his first two matches back and also if he is any closer to the decision of choosing whether to play Wimbledon next week or not.

“Yeah, I feel all right. Obviously the match was fairly quick, so it obviously helps. You know, the match when I played Nick, I didn’t feel great the following day. But then two days later — so I played on the Tuesday. On the Thursday I hit a few balls in the afternoon on Thursday and actually felt, you know, decent. But, like, on Wednesday I didn’t feel particularly good.”

“Nice. Yeah, for sure. It was a bit — I don’t know. I expected to be happier, you know, but yeah, it was obviously good to get the win against someone who is as good as Stan.I guess that’s one of the problems with being sort of a professional athlete and having competed at the top of the game. You have kind of expectations and stuff. You know, I always thought like when I came back that I would, you know, be more pumped for every single win. But the reality was it’s the first round of an event and it was obviously great, great to get through it, but obviously want to do more than that.”

“I’ll decide when I’m ready. I’m not putting any pressure on myself to make that decision after one match here or two matches, because I don’t need to. I can decide when I want and I’m going to do that. You know, I’m coming back from a very serious injury which is, you know, is not easy. My health and my body are No. 1 priority right now, and I will make that decision when I’m ready.”

It really has been a long road back for Murray. He only just started practicing two weeks before his first tournament back in Queen’s, so is still a long way away from where he needs to be to be back at his best, but the progression from match to match is something that will please him going into his second round clash against fellow Brit Kyle Edmund on Wednesday.

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