Sir Andy Murray said the manner of his titanic tiebreaker victory over Jack Draper at Battle of the Brits – Scotland v England in Aberdeen was “pretty special”.
With the Scot and his English opponent locked at one set each at P&J Live on Wednesday evening, a first-to-10-points showdown was needed, with Murray tenaciously battling back from an early deficit before producing a fantastic winning passing shot to take the match.
It was a result which means the score between Scotland and England is 1-1 going into the event’s final two sessions across Thursday afternoon and evening.
Sir Andy admitted to fatigue after a display which sent the packed Granite City arena into raptures, revealing he was wearing a GPS and heartrate monitor to test his movement and fitness ahead of the new tennis season starting in Australia in January.
The 35-year-old said: “I’m at that stage now where these opportunities don’t come around that often for me and you never know when it’s your last chance to go out and give your best.
“I said before the event I’d put a lot of work into the off-season and wanted to test myself against the best. Jack is playing top-25 level and it was a great test for me.
“I was disappointed my level dropped for the second set and how I served, but my movement and the way I was trying to play a lot of the points was great.
“The way I finished the match was pretty special. I’ve not played many tiebreaks like that and it felt as if there was a drop shot in every point and I managed to come up with a few great shots to finish.”
Sir Andy Murray back playing in Aberdeen 16 years on
Sir Andy’s return to Aberdeen finally came not much more than 16 years after he last played here at the 2006 Aberdeen Cup – which was also the last time a professional tennis match took place in the Granite City until this week.
Back then, Sir Andy and brother Jamie were just starting out on their professional tennis journey.
The former has gone on to become arguably Scotland’s greatest sportsperson in the years since, winning the Wimbledon men’s singles twice, a US Open and two Olympic gold medals.
He is playing in all three sessions at Battle of the Brits – Scotland v England, which could be he and Jamie’s last chance to play in front of Scottish crowds, with his first outing the second and final match of the opening session – after Dan Evans beat 22-year-old Glaswegian Aidan McHugh 6-4, 6-2 to put England 1-0 up.
It was a match where Sir Andy, in terms of ranking, was the underdog.
Although Murray has battled his way back to world no.49 – inside the top-50 for the first time since his hip resurfacing in 2019 – Draper is ranked 41st.
Sir Andy was introduced for his match to a huge roar, having already received an enormous cheer from the 7,000-strong crowd when the teams lined up for God Save the King and Flower of Scotland ahead of the McHugh-Evans rubber.
He won his first service game, then broke his opponent and, although Murray then immediately surrendered a break back, he would break Draper again for a 3-1 first set lead, only allowing the 21-year-old Englishman to register one more game on his way to a 6-2 first set success.
However, Murray would make a slow start to the second set, with the reliability he would take the point on his first serve dropping and his unforced error count climbing as he failed to take his opening two service games. Englishman Draper eventually moved 5-1 in front, and then broke Murray again to claim a 6-1 second set victory – and send the match to a first-to-10-points tiebreaker.
In this decider, Murray again found himself behind, going 2-0 down.
But he kept within striking distance of Draper, working the Aberdeen crowd into a frenzy as he fought his way level at 7-7 with the tenacity which has become a trademark.
Murray failed to finish the job at the first two chances, with one match point on his own serve and another on his opponent’s.
However, his best shot of the night was ahead of him.
At 11-10, he looked beaten as he raced across court and stretched for a deep Draper return, only to send a top-drawer passing shot beyond his opponent and send his adoring P&J Live fans wild.
Afterwards, Sir Andy added: “These few days are an important part of my preparation and that’s why I wanted to go out and be on it from the beginning.
“If I don’t give 110% then it is pointless wearing the vest I have. I want to see where my body is at and where my game is at.
“There is more to be positive about for me tonight than the last six months of the year. I still could have served better as I was really poor for the last 45 minutes of the match, but I still managed to get through so that’s a good sign.”
The Thursday afternoon session, beginning at 1pm, will see Scotland’s Jamie Murray and Jonny O’Mara take on the England pairing of Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski in doubles.
Play on Thursday afternoon will conclude with Sir Andy back on court against Evans.
Thursday’s final session, starting at 6.30pm, will see up-and-comers Aidan McHugh, of Scotland, and Paul Jubb, of England, meet in singles action, before the curtain comes down on the event with the Murray brothers in the doubles for Scotland against England’s Salisbury and Skupski.
While each victory on Wednesday evening was worth one point, there will be added incentive – and jeopardy – across Thursday, with matches in the afternoon worth two points to the winners, and matches in the evening worth three.
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