Wimbledon - Murray: Hot and heavy under roof

Eurosport - Tue, 30 Jun 14:39:00 2009

British number one Andy Murray expressed relief and frustration after surviving a five-set examination in the first Wimbledon match played entirely under the new Centre Court roof.

2009 Wimbledon Andy Murray serves under the Centre Court roof - 0

The third seed needed nearly four hours to defeat Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka under the lights in a match which finished at 10.38pm local time after officials decided to keep the roof closed because of the threat of rain.

"It was obviously great to come through," he said. "I had to play some great tennis because Stan was playing some unbelievable tennis at the start."

Murray dropped the first set in 34 minutes, as he struggled with his first service before rallying to win 2-6 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-3.

"It was very, very heavy and very humid," he said. "We were sweating so much. When I finished it was like I'd been in a bath. I struggled to serve because it wasn't coming off the strings that quickly."

Murray said the players had also been affected by warming up outside then playing indoors.

"In very few sports would coaches and teams be particularly happy if they don't know exactly what time they're going to kick off, or what the conditions are going to be like when they go out there," he said.

The noise throughout the match was thunderous as spectators shouted their support for Murray, against a spirited opponent who served well and unleashed an exceptional backhand which kept Murray scrambling on the baseline.

"Playing indoors always makes a difference to the atmosphere and when there is noise it doesn't get lose anywhere," he said.

"That was probably the noisiest crowd I played in front of."

A dejected Wawrinka, who won the Beijing Olympics doubles gold medal last year with Roger Federer, said he had tried his utmost.

"For sure, I'm sorry," he said.

Reuters

Comment 109 - 128 of 128

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  1. As a northerner, I'm beginning to wonder if these­ anti-Scottish sentiments are actually anti-northern­ sentiments. I've experienced some very aggressive­ anti-northern abuse when down south. I'm from­ Liverpool and I'm right behind the Scots when­ they're in any sport except when they're­ playing the English, of course. Go on, Andy win it for­ Britain, win it for Scotland, win it for us northerners­ who don't believe the world ends at the Watford­ Gap, and win it for the southerners who know that the­ world doesn't end at the Watford Gap!

    From ALAN G, on Wed 1 Jul 10:06AM

  2. "I think the use of the roof for Murray's­ match was­ totally unnecessary and wrong.
    Following the­ previous­ women's game, it was clearly obvious the­ weather­ had picked up - the sun was already breaking­ through -­ and to begin the match under the roof, when­ other games­ were also just starting outside in the­ open, was­ absurd.
    The roof should just be for wet­ weather and NOT­ to ensure matches can finish the same­­ evening."
    Yeah, you do not have the education and­ knowledge of how the rules work that the people that­ made the decision had.

    "The ONE­ single fact I­ believe in, is that it should be the same­ for ALL­ players - and clearly, with the roof in play,­ when it­ didn't need to be especially, it was NOT­ the same­ for everyone."
    Oh, only one court should be used­ during a championship then? And its not the same for­ everybody now that people on the center cour tcan play­ when its raining and people playing on the other courts­ can not.

    From Hans G, on Wed 1 Jul 4:43AM

  3. Wawrinka­ was serving at about 124 mph first service­ throughout­ the five sets "
    no he­ wasnt...

    "Andy could hardly get a first serve in­­ court and his second serve was spinning in at around­ 78­ mph"
    no it wasnt...

    "that's slower­ than most womens' second­ serves ( fact not insult­ ) "
    how could it be an insult to get 56% won on­ second serve when serving soo much worse than the other­ top guys in tennis?

    "if he gets to he final and­­ spins in serves at 78 mph to Roger Federer he will get­­ absolutely creamed."
    no. Learn english

    "Hope­ he can recover in time for the­ next match against­ Ferrero because he looked absolutely­ drained at the­ end of last night, hardly surprising."
    Of course,­ it was sick humid. It would be surprising if he was­ dead tired yesterday. Especially since he has sad­ playing several wouldnt be a problem. It would also be­ surprising to see someone actually being able to judge­ his energy level on his face after the match yesterday.

    From Hans G, on Wed 1 Jul 4:17AM

  4. How come Federer is first on court again tomorrow. Has­ he not always been up first in every game so far. ­ Lucky for him that he knows what time he is playing and­ can plan for it. Heres hoping for some good tennis­ from all concerned tomorrow though.

    From sf, on Tue 30 Jun 11:56PM

  5. As for the Englishman???? who calls himself Fedfan is­ it really necessary to be so abusive, or is it because­ you are scared that Murray could beat your man ,­ presuming of course that they BOTH get to the final.

    From mikeriddle, on Tue 30 Jun 8:32PM

  6. Having just spent the last 15 minutes reading through­ these mostly stupid and totally ignorant remarks (­ apart from a few like Frank and rugbymad666 ) I see­ that the LUNATICS have taken over the asylum. Can all­ those who are not really interested in the tennis and­ are only on here to pass abuse please go elsewhere and­ leave this site to those who appreciate good tennis no­ matter who is playing.

    From mikeriddle, on Tue 30 Jun 8:26PM

  7. well said frank, we should be getting behind him,­ i'm a big federer fan and he's the only person­ left I could see people supporting other than Murray­ from britain because of his sheer quality, just like­ i'd be getting behind the scottish football team.­ Murray may not like or even hate the english, which I­ doubt he does, but this is a tennis forum not a media­ forum just like michael jackson with his music and the­ scandels, which i also doubt.

    From rugbymad666, on Tue 30 Jun 7:52PM

  8. nice to see alot of typical english attitude on here.­ im english born and bread in the midlands in robin hood­ country and i say go on mr murray just win and show the­ people knocking you that you are as good as alot of us­ think you are.

    From FRANK, on Tue 30 Jun 6:22PM

  9. why dont they broadcast laura robson only got a british­ passport last year, she was born in australia

    From stefi grafs ex, on Tue 30 Jun 5:21PM

  10. To Wayne self are you really a @#$% or is it just­ coming over that way in your messages.
    We have chips­ on both shoulders Mr Self. That's mainly to keep­ you lot of them when a scot is doing well in his chosen­ sport.
    How's the english contingent doing at­ Wimbledon?

    From gordonsmall2839, on Tue 30 Jun 5:15PM

  11. PaulB - has it ever occurred to you that scottish­ schools could have different holiday periods from­ english schools? That's why we scots dislike the­ arrogance of "see it my way or else" english­ tw*ts

    From drosesmith, on Tue 30 Jun 4:58PM

  12. jealous english snobs, think their poo dont stink, get­ it up them andy

    From stefi grafs ex, on Tue 30 Jun 4:56PM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Apart from Wawrinka,Murray has had such an easy draw­ so­ far...Meeting Ferrero in the quarter is another­­ present...The spaniard won't be able to upset­­ Murray on grass(their last meeting at Queen's­­ shows..)He's very lucky compared to Federer for­­ instance who met Kholschreiber,Söderling and now the­­ player that everybody fears on grass,Karlovic.Gonna be­­ extremely hard for Roger as Karlovic has not lost his­­ serve even once since the beginning of the­­ tournament.This Karlovic is a nightmare for­ anyone...If­ Roger doesn't play at his very best,he­ might be in­ big troubles I'm afraid...

    From hadjeseles, on Tue 30 Jun 4:39PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    So being serious now, could someone tell me if a­ scottish person is born with a chip on both shoulders,­ or just the one i can never rememer.

    From wayne.self, on Tue 30 Jun 4:17PM

  15. See all matches at Wimbledon and other Grand Slam­­ tournaments, live in high-quality, totally free in­­ tenisentv.blogspot.

    From germanmedina96, on Tue 30 Jun 4:14PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    murrays bottle always crashes on the big stage i expect­ the same again at wimbers he will be known as that jock­ who couldnt win a major/ENGLISH SAM

    From john, on Tue 30 Jun 4:10PM

  17. as long as its getting up the noses of the english­ thats dinky doo

    From stefi grafs ex, on Tue 30 Jun 3:57PM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I just love how the scots are banging on as if his won­ already his only in the QF!

    From wayne.self, on Tue 30 Jun 3:43PM

  19. @ healy_316 & @ Donney: Ah you got me. I am so­ ashamed. You are right. I never went to school. Good­ job my kids go though. I could have sworn their school­ was open when I dropped them off this morning. Maybe­ it's a sham though and all the school children,­ parents and teachers milling around were just actors.­ Will call the school now to check it really is open and­ that my kids are getting the education I so clearly­ missed.

    From Paul B, on Tue 30 Jun 3:34PM

  20. @ paul b: You clearly weren't at school because if­ you were, you would know that the schools are finished­ for the holidays.

    From healy_316, on Tue 30 Jun 3:21PM
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