Andy Murray’s nearly five-hour, five-set comeback win over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka on Day 2 of the 2020 US Open may have seemed improbable when he was down a break in the third set—especially since the three-time Grand Slam champion now has a metal hip and hadn’t contested a best-of-five-set match since the 2019 Australian Open. Still, it was probably unwise to count him out. He’s been doing this for years.
“Where would I rate it? I don’t know,” Murray said when asked how he felt about the match compared to his other dramatic wins. (He’s now won 10 five-setters from two sets down.) “It's difficult because I can't remember all the matches I played, like all the five-setters and stuff, matches where I've come back from two sets.”
Let’s refresh his memory. Below are some of the 2012 champion’s most dramatic victories at the US Open.
Andy Murray d. Robin Haase (NED), 6-7, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, 6-4 (Second Round, 2011)
The craziest part of this match was not that Murray came back after losing the first two sets, but that Murray actually led 4-0 in the fifth before Haase staged a comeback of his own, firing winners at will and leveling the score at 4-4. The Dutchman then played a poor service game to get broken, paving the way for Murray to serve it out—with difficulty, as the final game fittingly lasted seven minutes. This match includes one of the three-time Grand Slam champion’s best-ever points. Coming into the net, Haase was forced to hit a series of overheads as Murray threw up multiple defensive lobs from six feet behind the baseline to stay in the point. On the third overhead, Murray was able to come forward and thread a forehand winner down the line past Haase. Murray would eventually make the semifinals.
Andy Murray d. Marin Cilic (CRO), 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-0 (Quarterfinals, 2012)
Perhaps his toughest match en route to the 2012 final, Murray found himself down a set and 5-1 in Louis Armstrong Stadium, eventually saving a set point at the net after a long rally on Cilic’s serve at 5-2. Murray eventually broke, held, then broke again (with help from Cilic), and the set ended up going to a tiebreak. Again Murray faltered and went down a 2-4 mini-break before clawing his way back with five straight points to take the second set. Deflated, Cilic didn’t put up too much resistance in the next two sets. No hard feelings, though—Cilic was in the “crowd” at the Murray-Nishioka match.
Andy Murray d. Novak Djokovic (SRB), 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 (Final, 2012)
At long last, in his fourth major final appearance, Murray captured his first Grand Slam title. But he had to win it the hard way—and in four hours, 54 minutes. The pair played grueling, physical rally after grueling, physical rally, and the swirling conditions inside Arthur Ashe Stadium wreaked havoc on both players. Murray needed six set points to win the first set, then raced out to a 4-0 lead in the second, only to have Djokovic win five of the next six games to level the score at 5-5. Murray was able to break to take the set at 6-5, then promptly lost the next two. It looked like Djokovic had wrestled all the momentum away from his opponent heading into the deciding set. Murray later told reporters he took a bathroom break after the fourth, looked at himself in the mirror and said out loud, “I’m not going to lose this.” Then he came back out for the fifth, and the rest is history.
Andy Murray d. Adrian Mannarino (FRA), 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 (Second Round, 2015)
Historically, Murray has matched up well against left-handers not named Rafael Nadal. But the Frenchman gave him all he could handle on a hot day inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. Murray wilted (and Mannarino flourished) as he failed to convert multiple break points in the first set and then lost the second after losing 11 points in a row. Early in the third, though, the Scot started to find his game and grabbed an early break after Mannarino dumped a volley into the net. That was all he needed to get his teeth back into the contest and gut out a five-set victory. “Fight to the end,” Murray said on Twitter after the match.
