Wednesday night at Wimbledon served as a reminder of how important fans are at live tennis events with Andy Murray relishing their presence.
In what was one of the most lively atmospheres at a tennis match since the COVID-19 pandemic forced many tournaments to go behind closed doors, Murray once again prevailed in a late-night thriller. This time it was over German qualifier Oscar Otte who he outlasted 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, after almost four hours of play. There was chanting, laughter and gasps from the thousands of spectators who were in the stands throughout the roller-coaster.
“That’s one of the reasons why I’m still playing is because of moments like that. Why would you want to give that up?” Said Murray. “The atmosphere, it was good the whole match, but especially the last sort of (last) hour and a half was brilliant”
“Playing in atmospheres like that, creating moments and memories like that is one of the reasons why I’m still playing,” he added.
Towards the end of the match there was a halt to proceedings in order for the roof to be closed on Centre Court. When play resumed Murray, who was starting to lack in energy, decided to use the crowd to his advantage by focusing on a select few in the crowd and feeding off of their cheers.
“It’s something I have done a number of times over the years in certain matches. I hope the fans like it and don’t think that it’s a bit weird that I’m sort of staring at them and screaming at them for like an hour, but they seem to enjoy it, as well,” he explained.
Reaching the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in four years, the former world No.1 is projected to rise to around 101st in the world. Placing him tantalisingly close to breaking back into the world’s top 100 for the first time since May 2018.
Only time will tell how Murray’s body will hold up over the coming days given his various physical setbacks of the past. He underwent two hip surgeries in 2018 and 2019, as well as suffering from other issues such as a groin problem earlier this year. Alarm bells started to ring during his match against Otte after he slipped on the grass and let out a yelp of pain before resuming play.
“Sometimes when you make those movements and stuff, I don’t know if it’s a bit of a sharp pain, and then either it’s bad or it’s fine,” he said.
“It was sore for probably five, ten seconds, and then I got up and walked around. I was feeling it a little bit, but it’s not too bad.”
Murray’s will play Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in the third round on Friday.
