Andy Murray: Queen's return offers glimpses of glorious past with plenty of positives for the future
The manner of Murray and Feliciano Lopez’s 7-6, 6-3 victory over Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah was hugely encouraging and hints at a busy summer on the doubles court
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Your support makes all the difference.Less than six months after brushing aside a suggestion that his future might be in doubles, Andy Murray is planning for a busy time on the doubles court over the next month.
After winning his comeback match here at the Fever-Tree Championships on Thursday evening alongside Feliciano Lopez, the Scot revealed not only that he would play doubles at Wimbledon next month with France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert but that he was also planning to play mixed doubles at the All England Club.
The manner of Murray and Lopez’s 7-6, 6-3 victory over Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah was hugely encouraging. The Colombians, who have won 13 doubles titles in tandem in the last five years, were the top seeds but were outplayed in the latter stages as Murray thrilled the crowd with some spectacular shot-making.
Murray, who was playing his first match since undergoing a second hip operation in January, which he had feared might signal the end of his career, talked positively afterwards about his long-term goal of returning to singles competition later this year.
“I expected to be the worst player on the court tonight and to not feel particularly good on the court,” he said. “That probably was the case in the first set.I started to play better in the second and started to serve a bit better and see the returns a little bit better.
“I have zero discomfort in my hip after the match - nothing. And 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.”
Lopez and Murray will be back on court late on Friday for their quarter-final match. They are due to face the winners of a delayed first-round match in which Britain’s Dan Evans and Ken Skupski are scheduled to take on Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur. That match is not scheduled to start before 3pm at the earliest and before it Auger-Aliassime has to face Stefanos Tsitsipas in a singles quarter-final.
A doubles against Murray and Lopez would be Auger-Aliassime’s third match in a day, so it would be no surprise if the young Canadian withdrew if he were to win his singles against Tsitsipas.
If Lopez and Murray win again they will face a Saturday semi-final against the winners of the quarter-final in which Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski will take on Henri Kontinen and John Peers.
Next week Murray will play doubles with Brazil’s Marcelo Melo, a former world No 1, in the Nature Valley International at Eastbourne before teaming up with Herbert at Wimbledon. The 28-year-old Frenchman is a highly talented doubles player who in the last three years has won all four of the Grand Slam titles alongside his fellow countryman Nicolas Mahut.
Asked if he planned to play mixed doubles at Wimbledon, Murray said: “I would like to, yes. I have spoken to a couple of players. I've been rejected a couple of times so far. But if I'm feeling good, yeah, I will play.”
Murray, who has not played mixed doubles at Wimbledon since 2006, was asked for what reasons prospective mixed doubles partners had turned him down. “I can think of many,” he said with a smile. “I asked singles players who had already committed to playing doubles. They didn't want to commit to playing in three events, which I completely understand.”
It can safely be asserted that Murray and Lopez’s opening victory was played in front of the biggest crowd for a first-round doubles match in the 135-year history of these championships. The 9,000-capacity centre court was almost full when the match started just before 7pm. Most of the spectators were still there for the finish 74 minutes later.
There were no breaks of serve in a routine opening set, which Murray and Lopez won with an element of luck. In the tie-break, which they took 7-5, the Scot and the Spaniard won three points as a result of their shots clipping the top of the net.
The second set was different, however, as Murray got into his stride. His competitive spirit and will to win were there for all to see in his regular fist pumps and interaction with Lopez. When he stayed in a point in the final game thanks to an electrifying reaction shot and then hit a stunning backhand winner he celebrated as if he were on the way to a Grand Slam title rather than a first-round doubles match on the ATP tour.
Murray acknowledged that there had not been many long points but added: “I felt like I pushed myself well enough in practice to know that when I went on the court I was going to be OK. But at that time of night on that court it's sometimes a little bit slippy, so sometimes when I moved outside of the doubles alley, I felt a little bit uncomfortable.”
Murray, nevertheless, will not be getting carried away by the joy of winning one doubles match. He was rarely extended physically and a 74-minute doubles bears no comparison with a Grand Slam singles played over the best of five sets.
What is most encouraging is that he is playing again without any pain. That makes this week a very different story to last year, when he returned to competition here after minor surgery on his right hip in January but was still in pain.
“I was still pretty uncomfortable,” he recalled. “Things weren't really getting better. Whereas now, although I feel like I'm not at my best physically, I feel like I'm always making improvements and I have no pain.
“So it felt different in that respect. I feel like I'm going to continue to progress. It was fun and enjoyable. Last year when I came on the court, I was quite emotional, because I hadn't played for a long time but didn't get loads of enjoyment out of the match. I was more worried about my hip than anything else.”
He added: “Today I expected to enjoy the match because I told myself I was going to, regardless of what happened. I spoke a bit about that with my coach and my team: regardless of the result, you need to make sure you enjoy this, because a few months ago I had no clue whether I'd be back playing on a court.”
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