Tennis returned to the old normal in London on Wednesday evening when Andy Murray, the triple grand slam title winner who won’t lie down, split a pair of tie-breaks with Kyle Edmund before losing a second comeback match rich with promise.
At 33 and lurking with intent outside the top 100, the Scot arrived with low expectations, yet he showed enough of his familiar grit and class to encourage the belief that he could still cause a stir at the highest level.
Rejuvenated after seven months away to heal stubborn aches and pains, Murray was coming off a straight-sets win against Liam Broady on day one of his brother Jamie’s Battle of the Brits charity event but he needed to go up a gear against Edmund, ranked 44 in the world.
In the longest match of the first two days, Edmund finished strongly to win 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4), 10-5.
“He keeps the ball in court, very good anticipation, different speeds,” Edmund said immediately afterwards. “He’s had a big operation but he served very well and he found some sharpness. It is not easy to hit through him, you have to build the point. You’re still playing Andy Murray. He’s won so much in his career. You’ve got to do so much problem-solving against him. Just staying in the match counts for a lot against him.”
Murray said: “I think I did pretty well, much better than yesterday, how I hit the ball from the back of the court. It would have been nice to come through it. Kyle’s a tough guy to play.
“To be honest, right now I’m not bothered so much about the results. I know if my hip’s good my tennis will get better over the next months. If I sharpen up, I’ll be playing high-level tennis. More chance of playing Washington than Cincinnati because I don’t want to play back-to-back tournaments. I want to have a few more cracks at the majors.”
Murray took the first set behind a solid second serve in the tie-break and his coach, Jamie Delgado, said courtside: “I’m very happy with the way Andy stepped up and played a lot of good tennis. He felt a little stiff this morning, but that’s to be expected. He hasn’t played in a long time.”
Since November, in fact, when a thigh bone complication and his niggling hip forced him off the Tour before the Australian Open, the only grand slam tournament of the 2020 season so far after the cancellation of Wimbledon, which was due to start next week.
They traded breaks midway through the second and, as Edmund told his coach, Colin Beecher, during a break: “Andy’s everywhere.” Murray fashioned break point from 0-40 in the 11th game but Edmund hung on in the second tie-break to force a deciding shootout, where Edmund’s big serve prevailed as Murray finally flagged.
This was a significant performance from both players, whatever the status of the competition. Edmund brought a beefed-up backhand to the National Tennis Centre to go with his trademark finisher on the other wing, and quickly found his early-season form with a convincing opener against James Ward on Tuesday. On Wednesday Ward bounced back to beat Broady, 6-4, 6-1, going away.
Murray, though, will be the centrepiece of the British game for as long as his legs will carry him, and he remains on course to return to play at the US Open in August – if coronavirus does not scupper that tournament. There were discouraging noises from the US on Wednesday, as Covid-19 hit golf again, and New York cancelled its November marathon.
Back in London, Ryan Peniston, the world No 393 and British No 11, gave the more experienced Cameron Norrie a scare before the world No 77 eked out a 3-6, 6-1, 10-4 win. Peniston, the unknown Essex left-hander who stepped in at the last minute to replace the injured teenager Jack Draper, was up for a big showing against Norrie.
“If we had any fans in here, they’d be clapping wildly,” Sam Smith said in the Prime commentary box when Peniston powered his way to break in the eight game, then coolly sealed the first set with an ace down the T.
His father and coach, Paul, said: “When he was younger he was very small and poorly. I taught him to take it early, because his opponents would run him ragged otherwise. He loves playing like that.”
“I played really solid,” said Norrie, who will next face the British No 1, Dan Evans. “Ryan came out firing; he really took it to me in the first set. I managed to pull it back in the second, happy in the tie-break. I knew a little bit about him, we practised the other day, and we’d both been to college in America. Definitely a crafty player.”