Considering Andy Murray鈥檚 11-month absence from the competitive scene, his performance yesterday at the Queen鈥檚 Club was, to say the least, encouraging. Sure, he found himself on the wrong end of a match against surging Nick Kyrgios, his first at the Fever-Tree Championships. On the other hand, there were enough sightings of his World Number One self to build on; the fact that he won the first set easily, bowed in the second via a tiebreak, and lost the third five and seven just five months off hip surgery speaks volumes of his commitment and skill set.
Certainly, Murray hoped for better from his comeback. That said, he did admit that his level of preparation was far from that required to keep pace at the sport鈥檚 highest echelon. 鈥淚 really haven鈥檛 played a whole lot of tennis, so I鈥檓 happy I got out there and competed and performed respectably,鈥 he said in his post-mortem. And just so everybody else wouldn鈥檛 pile on the expectations, he added that he needed 鈥渢o wait and see what happens the next few days and chat with my team because I don鈥檛 know exactly what鈥檚 best for me just now.鈥
Indeed, Murray understands the value of taking things slow. Last year, he found himself prepping for the United States Open with the same hip problem that later had him going under the knife, to disappointing results. All the wiser, he noted yesterday that he wouldn鈥檛 be pushing himself, never mind that — or especially because — he鈥檚 an old 31. On the court, though, he didn鈥檛 show any signs of easing off his trademark body-punishing playing style. In fact, he looked every bit his old self, outbursts included — every bit, that is, save for the sharpness of his game.
And so Murray will wait and see how he feels when the rigors of his effort that lasted 21 minutes short of three hours yesterday will manifest themselves. 鈥淚f I wake up and I really don鈥檛 feel good tomorrow, then that鈥檚 obviously not a great sign for best-of-five-set tennis at this stage,鈥 he said. 鈥淗owever, if I pull up and feel okay, then that鈥檚 a good sign.鈥 Still, it鈥檚 clear that his recovery is a matter of when, not if — which, at this point, is progress in and of itself.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994.
