WHAT HAPPENED: Don’t count out Andy Murray...ever. The three-time Grand Slam champion has talked about how a doctor was dismissive of his chances of ever playing tennis again after he suffered a devastating hip injury, but that simply fueled his drive to return to the courts—and to the highest levels that he once reached.
And in his return to the US Open Tuesday, he showed why, despite his No. 115 ranking, he still belongs in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Murray dropped the first two sets to No. 49 Yoshihito Nishioka and was close to the precipice again and again, yet fought his way back for a stunning 4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 win that lasted four hours and 39 minutes.
At first, Nishioka, who suffered a ruptured ACL in 2017, played like a youthful version of Murray himself: playing tenacious defense all over the court on this muggy day. When Murray attacked the net, Nishioka responded with majestic, deep lobs or sharp-angled passing shots. The Japanese 24-year-old also attacked the net just to keep Murray off-balance.
Murray looked a bit stiff and slow at the start and was broken at 3-3 in a game that included a time violation and ended with Nishioka blasting an overhead. The lefty opened his next game with an ace, showing he would not get nervous in a big moment—he said before the match that the lack of fans would help him more than Murray and that seemed true as he closed out the first set.
Murray only landed 41 percent first serves in that set and the former US Open champion knew he’d have to improve, but he double faulted on his first two points of the second set and double faulted twice in his second service game. He lost both and quickly found himself down 4-0, as Nishioka—who hadn’t played since the pandemic showed no rust—making zero unforced errors in those games. (Murray made a dozen.)
But fighting valiantly is a Murray trademark and he scrapped and scrambled his way back into the set. Down 5-4, he faced two set points but after saving one, he broke a string on a forehand return of a mediocre second serve, his shot sailed deep, and Nishioka had the second set.
Did we mention that fighting valiantly is a Murray trademark? Down a break in the third set, Murray battled back to 4-4. He saved a break point in that game and two more in his next game, gaining the momentum that led him to a 7-5 win in the tiebreaker.
Murray was going full tilt and shouting to pump himself up—and in fourth set he continually fought off break points, forcing another tiebreaker, where he again prevailed, 7-4, leaving Nishioka looking up at the sky, disheartened.
After saving 10 straight break points, Murray finally blew one with his 13th double fault to fall behind 3-2 in the fifth. It was a bad blow at a bad time. But, you may have heard someone mention something about Murray and fighting valiantly. And there he was, breaking back immediately and finally finishing off his younger foe, 6-4 in the final set.
WHAT IT MEANS: Murray played well last week in three set wins against Frances Tiafoe and Alexander Zverev in the Western & Southern Open. This match-up, against a defensive specialist, was more of a challenge for him, but as long as he is pain-free afterward, the victory shows he will continue to find a rhythm—and climb back toward the top of the rankings.
"They have an ice bath in the locker room only for emergencies, but for me, this is an emergency," Murray said after the match. "That's by far the most tennis I've played since 2019, so I need to recover well."
MATCH POINT: Murray was never great, but always grinding. The question is whether that will be enough in future rounds, particularly if he ends up pitted next against an up-and-comer with plenty of weapons in Felix Auger-Alissiame.
