I Fear No Way Back For Andy Murray

[toalisi]

Two sets to love down & being comprehensively outplayed
by Djokovic.

What did we expect - Djokovic is on a 27 match winning streak.

[Ken4155]

And he was 1/6 to beat Murray prior to the match. No shame in losing to the best player in the world.

[toalisi]

Wow! We could all have done Andy an injustice!

A cracking third set means he is now 2 sets to 1 down and
seems to have found another gear.

Go Andy

[tamborine]

Has the whinger Novak left the court for a quick sniff again?

[bibblebub]

oo er, he's a break up in the 4th

[tamborine]

Taint right for players to leave court mid tournament. Novak returned refreshed (showered) in new clothes & plenty of time for sniffs. How well supervised are these absences?

[toalisi]

The officials halted play because of a predicted rain storm.

Back on court at 12 BST tomorrow

[tamborine]

I know rain stopped play. My q is Novak's 10m absence during the match, while Andy was at full throttle.

[Cloverjo]

What spirit he showed in the third set. He's still in with a chance.

[anneasquith]

sniffs ?

[jim360]

Good to see him showing some fight. Realistically he was very unlikely to win this but as long as he doesn't wilt then it's a good sign for, say, Wimbledon and the US hard courts.

[thesecondlaw]

I agree with tamborine. He always takes these breaks when things aren't going well. Always steps up his performance when he returns, too.

[shoota]

PEP Anne, performance enhancing powders.

[anneasquith]

PEP eh ? do Boots sell them ?

[murraymints]

come on Andy son !!

[tonyav]

I doubt it, anne.

[douglas9401]

A neutral observer might see the absence from the court as cheating.

[jim360]

Gamesmanship, certainly.

Lest we forget, though, Andy Murray did a similar thing at the end of the fourth set in the US Open final, 2012, and then came out and won the fifth. I'd be wary to call foul play on one but not the other.

[douglas9401]

Fair enough, Jim, but when the powers that be are so hot on the time taken between the winning of a point and the next serve it seems odd that it's acceptable behaviour.

[thesecondlaw]

I may be wrong, but I seem to remember both players leaving the court in 2012, jim. Slightly different to leaving your opponent on court for an age. It's WRONG.

[jim360]

You might be right about the US Open actually. It's a shame that Djokovic has tried that if it is gamesmanship (and what else can it be, really?). I don't mean to defend him, although I do overall like the big four. When they are actually playing tennis it's pretty amazing stuff to watch.