LONDON: In his first competitive tournament since undergoing hip resurfacing surgery, Andy Murray has booked a spot in his first doubles final on the ATP Tour since 2013.
After what has been a rain-interrupted week at the Fever-Tree Championships, the former world No.1 had to do double duty at the Queen’s Club with partner Feliciano Lopez on Saturday. Who also secured a place in the final of the singles competition earlier in the day. Resuming their quarter-final match against Dan Evans and Ken Skupski, the duo triumphed 6-4, 7-6(3).
No longer than 20 minutes after that victory, the Murray-Lopez team was playing once again on the court. The challengers were third seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers. Facing a tough test, the two battled to a 7-5, 6-7(5), 10-7, victory. Battling back from a 0-3 deficit in the second set.
It was a Murray forehand passing shot at 5-5 in the second set that rewarded them the break for a chance to serve for a place in Sunday’s final. However, they were unable to do so as Kontinen and Peers hit back once again. Forcing the clash into a 10-point decider. Continuing to ride the rollercoaster, Murray and Lopez broke their opponents serve twice in the tiebreaker on route to winning.
“It was a good match. We obviously had some chances to finish it in the second set.” Murray said afterward.
“I played a bad service game. It was an unbelievable effort from Feliciano. He’s played a lot of tennis in the last couple of games. He’s not young anymore.
“I’m very happy to be in the final.”
Murray’s success wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t with the help of his Spanish counterpart, who contested three matches within a five-hour period today. Lopez’s two doubles matches followed his 239-minute three-set win over Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.
“I think the first hour after my singles I still had the energy from the singles match that I won, and I was so happy,” Lopez commented during his press conference.
“So I put this energy into the beginning of the doubles match. The match that we couldn’t finish yesterday and the first set of the semis after.’
“Then after one hour, I start to feel a little bit more tired, obviously, because I played a lot and it’s late, and it’s getting cold so my body is a little bit more sore.”
Room for improvement
Now with three competitive matches under his belt, Murray is keen to improve further on the tour as he builds up towards a return to the singles competition one day. Which could be as early as September in Glasgow at a Challenger named in honor of the Murray family.
“I think I returned well today. And then there were a few balls that I picked up which maybe I wouldn’t have done in the first match. I was maybe a bit more either slower or a bit more apprehensive to move to some of those balls, but I thought I picked up some good ones today.” He analyzed.
“But there are definitely things I could do better. I could have served a bit better. Maybe I didn’t volley as well as I did in the first match. You know, hopefully, those things will improve. But it was pretty good.”
One example of the Murray legacy is the fact either him or his brother Jamie has contested a final at Queen’s every year since 2013.
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The former world No.1 is set to play in only the fifth doubles final of his entire career on the ATP Tour. Murray has contested 12 doubles tournaments since 2015, but none since 2017.
“ I think things have probably got a little bit better maybe with each match, as well. Definitely, on the return side of things, that’s probably the thing I was most happy with today. And, yeah, I didn’t expect to be playing in the final, no, that’s for sure.”
Progress on the Mixed doubles front
Beyond Queen’s, Murray is still on the hunt for a mixed doubles partner to play alongside at Wimbledon. Earlier this week, the Brit admitted that he was experiencing difficulty in finding somebody. Triggering a series of responses from players on social media. Murray had originally asked French Open champion Ash Barty, who declined in order to focus on the singles.
“We chatted briefly about it this morning with the guys, because my coach had a few messages from players and then a few people have said stuff online, but I haven’t actually spoken to anyone since.” He said.
“Ideally, try and find someone who is, you know, a quality doubles player. That’s the most important thing.”
One person to express her interest is Maria Sharapova. Who posted a tweet hinting that she would like to team up with the three-time grand slam champion. However, Murray said he was unaware if the Russian has contacted his team. The two haven’t always seen eye-to-eye. Murray once criticized officials for rewarding wild cards to player’s penalized for doping. Sharapova served a 15-month ban after testing positive for meldonium.
“I haven’t given it a whole lot of thought. But at the time I said what I felt. I still feel the same way about those things, and that’s never going to change.” Murray replied when asked if that would be an issue if a partnership between the two occurs.
Before Murray ponders who his partner will be, his focus will be on Sunday’s final. He and Lopez will play Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram.