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Andy Murray lives up to his reputation as a standing man once again. Although he does not show his best tennis in the first round, the Briton makes his way into the heart of the fans and a very special audience.
Andy Murray did not expect this celebrity on his return to the Grand Slam: Although spectators are not allowed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the former world number one received strong support from the stands when he won the US Open. Suddenly, tennis celebrities gathered around Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Naomi Osaka sat in front of the converted boxes on center court and led the 33-year-old Brit with metal on his hips to a heroic show of strength and The passage to the second round.
“It doesn’t usually happen that so many players watch your match,” says Murray after his 2-0 set deficit, one match point defense and the 4: 6, 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 5 ), 7: 6 (7: 4), 6: 4 in 4:38 hours against the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka.
“That can also distract you when you look up and see colleagues from the top five, the top ten in the world are looking at you,” says the Scotsman and admits: “When I saw the faces, it helped me. »
The race was actually over
Murray really wanted to end his career in early 2019 due to another hip operation. The scenes at the Australian Open, when he also fought for five sets against Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut on January 14, but ultimately lost and had to watch emotional farewell videos because his career seemed to be over, will not be forgotten. Murray announced his resignation three days earlier in tears due to persistent hip problems and an upcoming operation.
But he didn’t want to give up like this. Despite two hip surgeries and tough tests of patience in rehab, Murray wanted to get back to the great places of his sport.
And so he gave the 2020 Ghost US Open a first emotional climax. The VIP boxes at the Arthur-Ashe-Stadium this year have become personal retreats for professionals without an admitted public. And so it happened that Djokovic & Co. suddenly sat on the small balconies on Tuesday so as not to miss the show.
Williams: “I really wanted him to win”
Even Serena Williams was excited, and not upset, as one should have suspected based on her game schedule after Murray’s match. “It’s usually like this: if you wait for your game and the match in front of you on this court is 0-2 behind in sets, you are the one who leads so that the match ends quickly and you can enter the court,”. “But I cheered on Andy all the time. I really wanted her to win. “
Ice bath? “This is an emergency for me”
In fact, he did it and then only had one problem: Due to strict hygiene regulations, ice containers, which are otherwise often popular with professionals, are taboo this year. But Murray knew what to do. “There is an ice bath here on site that you can use in an emergency. For me this is an emergency because my whole body hurts, ”he says (in the video at the beginning of the article). And, of course, the tournament directors allowed the 2012 champion to go deep inside. “I will sleep well tonight,” Murray says as he says goodbye, and awaits the next challenge against the great 20-year-old Canadian talent Felix Auger-Aliassime on Thursday.
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