Wimbledon 2012: Nervy Murray through after struggle

Cilic clinches second-longest match in tournament history.

LONDON: British number one Andy Murray spent yesterday’s rest day at Wimbledon pondering how to up his game for the challenges facing him in the second week of the tournament.

The Scot battled his way past the dangerous Marcos Baghdatis late Saturday, edging a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 win in three hours and 13 minutes just in time for the deadline imposed on matches for health and safety reasons. It was the latest-ever finish at the All England Club.

And while the victory kept alive his hopes of finally winning a Grand Slam title at the age of 25, Murray said he was aware he had to find another gear if that dream is to be realised.

“I was very nervous, I knew it was going to be tough,” said Murray. “I was just kind of hustling my way through the match and I am going to need to play better, if I want to go deep into the tournament. I was really struggling. Even in the first couple of sets I was creating lots of chances but I was not feeling that comfortable on the court.”

There were concerns also over Murray’s fitness as he took several painful-looking tumbles in a Centre Court match that saw the sliding roof closed at the start of the third set.

“My knee was a little bit sore,” he told the BBC. “I took a tumble towards the end of the second set, I slipped and my foot went from underneath me. I had the physio work on it and put some tape on it and it was okay. I was struggling quite a bit with my footing early on, I changed shoes as well during the break and that helped.”

The next opponent for Murray is 23-year-old Croatian Marin Cilic with their match scheduled second up on Court One today.

Cilic through after marathon match

Cilic made it through by defeating Sam Querrey 7-6 (8/6), 6-4, 6-7 (7/2), 6-7 (7/3), 17-15 in what was the second longest match in Wimbledon history. Murray leads their head-to-head rivalry 5-1, the only win for Cilic coming in the last-16 at the 2009 US Open.

In another gentlemen’s singles match, three-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick suffered a second successive third-round exit at the All England Club, losing 2-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-4, 6-3 to Spanish seventh seed David Ferrer.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2012.