ANDY MURRAY stood on his aching right ankle at the exit door of the 110th French Open and stared back at a raft of wasted opportunities. No, he thought, this was worth fighting for and, as Viktor Troicki pawed the clay across the net, the Scot turned and engaged him once again. What followed was not pretty, but it surely was an exhibition of bloodymindedness that Murray will treasure above many.
He is still in this tournament, almost despite himself.
When they resume this morning for the fifth and deciding set, it is the Serb who will be most wounded. He was as profligate as Murray was during two hours and 52 minutes of ragged drama last night but he had the advantage of two working legs and an opponent engaged in a loud internal argument with himself. When Murray was cursing all the imagined and real gusts of fate swirling around Court Suzanne Lenglen, Troicki led 6-4, 6-4. He was comfortable, too, in the third set – until Murray was finally roused to respond.
Thereafter, the angst shifted away from the one-legged man. Murray took that set 6-3 and, from 2-1 down, won the last five games of the fourth to level the match at 6-2. Psychologically, he had broken Troicki – much as he had turned Michael Berrer from hunter to hunted on Saturday.
Having come through a light workout in the afternoon, Murray began gingerly and Troicki punished him to go 5-0 up, but not by moving him about the court. Murray, simply, was off his game.
At 5-4, Troicki struggled to hold serve until Murray hit early at a simple forehand, and the comeback stalled. While his movement had improved markedly, his hitting was still erratic and his judgment clouded. Lob after lob fell obligingly into Troicki’s waiting racket and there seemed no way Murray would survive. He broke two rackets but not Troicki’s rhythm.
But he has deep reserves of pride and grit. He carried on when others might have given up. He was much encouraged when Troicki faltered in the third at the very moment he should have gone for the kill and the contest was even again.
When Murray unfurled a blistering forehand for a break to go 5-3 up in the fading light, his team rose to encourage him for one last heave to stay in the match. He produced it and they went into raptures. Whether or not Murray can nurse his tender ankle through the rest of this contest, let alone the rest of the tournament, will be down to the ATP’s medical team and the fortitude of the world number four. There was plenty of the latter on show last night.
Were he of a mind, Murray could take comfort in the trials and troubles of others, notably Rafa Nadal, who still looks out of sorts. The king who talks like a commoner, Nadal set Roland Garros buzzing yesterday when he declared: “I’m not playing enough well to win this tournament.”
It is hard to imagine Roger Federer saying that, or Novak Djokovic. They do not lean naturally towards self-deprecation but Nadal is so imbued with natural humility that he can confront uncomfortable truths. He knows he operated fitfully in the first week and he played an ordinary first set yesterday before accounting for Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
“You have to be a realist,” he said later, “and today I’m not playing enough well to win this tournament. I have to hit the ball with a little bit more conviction. We will see after tomorrow if I am ready to play at this level.”
He meets Robin Soderling, who beat Giles Simon in straight sets.
Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka avoided the clatter of seeds in the women’s draw to move through to the quarter-finals. Sharapova’s task looked the tougher against 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska and so it proved as she recovered from a 4-1 deficit in the first set and then saved five set points in the second to triumph 7-6 (7/4) 7-5.
Sharapova now faces Germany’s Andrea Petkovic, who won their fourth-round meeting at the Australian Open in January.
Azarenka is yet to drop a set and she was troubled only occasionally yesterday in a 6-2 6-3 victory over Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova.
Guardian Service
PARIS DETAILS
Men’s Singles
Fourth round: J I Chela (Arg) bt A Falla (Col) 4-6 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2, (1) R Nadal (Spa) bt I Ljubicic (Cro) 7-5 6-3 6-3, (9) G Monfils (Fra) bt (7) D Ferrer (Spa) 6-4 2-6 7-5 1-6 8-6, (5) R Soderling (Swe) bt (18) G Simon (Fra) 6-2 6-3 7-6 (7-5), A Murray (Brit) level with V Troicki (Serb) 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-2, bad light stopped play.
Women’s Singles
Fourth round: (4) V Azarenka (Blr) bt E Makarova (Rus) 6-2 6-3, (7) M Sharapova (Rus) bt (12) A Radwanska (Pol) 7-6 (7-4) 7-5, (15) A Petkovic (Ger) bt (25) M Kirilenko (Rus) 6-2 2-6 6-4.
