It seems that Andy Murray, who wasn’t sure whether he would be able to compete again at the beginning of the season this year, is finding his way back very well these days.
The Scot commenced his comeback slowly and carefully by playing doubles with Spain’s Feliciano Lopez at the Queen’s Club Championship in June. Where they both clinched the title in a very positive comeback for Andy, who seemed at the time very eager to play tennis again though he wasn’t completely ready for big stages as he always used to.
A couple months later in Zhuhai, he got his first singles win on tour since his comeback, which was followed by a loss to world No.26 Alex De Minaur in 3 sets. Taking on the US Open semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini in the opening round at China Open was a real challenge and a good test for the former world No.1 to evaluate how everything is going on. He passed in two sets in what was a good indication that everything is going in the right direction. Then he got past his countryman Cameron Norrie in three sets before falling to Thiem in two.
He lost after Beijing in Shanghai to Fabio Fognini in the second round during a very exciting match. Including some clashes between both of them with Murray losing his game when he was serving for the match in the decider set.
Even if he didn’t get any significant result there, playing such long matches against top players is an essential part in the build-up process for his game mentally and physically.
“It’s just difficult in tennis, because you don’t get the opportunity to just come in and play one set like you might in other sports and build up your fitness by playing a little bit longer each time. You need to get it through playing matches and maybe at that stage I just wasn’t quite ready physically for long matches. But now obviously my body’s getting a little bit more used to it and coping fairly well.” Said Murray about his improvement.
In Antwerp this week, the Scot seems to be getting better as he got four singles wins in a row, so far, for the first time since his comeback. In other words the number of matches won consecutively in one week increases as he plays more which is a good indication that his body is getting used to it more and more and recovers faster, yet he still needs some time to reach his highest level. Having played long, intense matches in the quarter and semi finals against Marius Copil and Ugo Humbert today, which could have some effect on his physical readiness against Wawrinka. Who reserved a spot in the final by beating Jannik Sinner (6-3, 6,2). Both players dropped two sets on their way towards the final with Murray playing an additional match.
Whether the Scot lifts his first single trophy since 2017 on Sunday or not, he is definitely getting in there with a very good rate. Considering he was thinking of retirement earlier this year than having a hip replacement surgery afterwards and now competing in such a level and one step away from a single title, that is a huge success. Moreover, he is getting more confident and mentally tougher which is shown clearly in the last two matches; surviving from a very tight situation and keeping cool in a very crucial moments.
Speaking about his aspects of the game, his defensive game has improved very fast. It’s been a fundamental part of his game throughout his career. He is trying to level up his offensive shots and turning from the defensive to the offensive when possible, especially on fast indoors courts, which would normally take more time as he’s gaining more confidence. Yet Murray needs to work hard on his serve, especially his second serve which costs him a lot of points sometimes very crucial ones.
