Having come out on the right end of a thrilling tiebreaker on the first night of Schroders Battle of the Brits – Scotland v England at P&J Live, Sir Andy Murray experienced the other side of the deciding “shootout” against Dan Evans on Thursday afternoon.
Scotland’s three-time grand slam winner and England’s British men’s No.1 had to be separated by a first-to-10-points breaker in front of another near-full house at P&J Live, with Evans triumphing 10-8.
The Englishman had broken Murray at the perfect moment to win the first set of their match 6-4, and the players exchanged breaks of serve before another decisive Murray break saw him go on to take the second set 6-3.
Evans’ win means, going into Thursday evening’s final session in Aberdeen, starting at 6.30pm, Team Scotland trail Team England 5-1 in the overall event standings.
Sir Andy said: “First set, Dan served really well and I probably wasn’t doing enough with the ball from the back of the court.
“Then, second set that probably flipped a little bit and I felt like I was controlling more of the points.
“The tiebreak is a shootout and anything can happen – last night I came up with some great stuff at the end, today it didn’t quite happen.”
Murray’s spectacular passing shot to win his tiebreaker against Jack Draper on Wednesday evening had ensured Scotland began day two in the Granite City level with England on a point apiece.
However, they now have a bit of a mountain to climb on Thursday night, although the Battle of the Brits’ progressive scoring system means wins in the final session are worth three points.
Sir Andy – who will team up with brother Jamie against Evans and Neal Skupski in the Battle of the Brits – Scotland v England finale later – hopes 22-year-old Aidan McHugh can keep things alive for the Scots when he meets 17-year-old Englishman Paul Jubb in the first rubber of the evening session.
Murray, 35, who has been disappointed by his endurance in Aberdeen over his first two matches, but pleased with his movement and how his serve improved Wednesday into Thursday, added: “I’ll go rest up now and hope Aidan can get the win against Paul Jubb and keep it alive going into the doubles.
“But, ye, it’ll be fun to play with Jamie again. We were told it’s going to be a full crowd this evening, it’s sold out, so the atmosphere should be great.
“So far the two sessions we’ve had have been really positive, the matches have been at a good level and entertaining.
“The two this afternoon were nail-biters right to the end.
“I hope all the people who’ve come to watch have enjoyed it, there’s one more session to go and I hope it’s great again.”
Having beaten double-Olympic gold medallist Murray, Evans, 32, said: “I played a good match (win on Wednesday v Aidan McHugh), but it wasn’t the highest of levels of intensity. Andy got a good match in his legs (v Draper), but I needed this today.
“It was a great atmosphere and got me feeling like it was a real match. There’s no (ranking) points or anything riding on it, but it felt as serious as it could possibly be.”
Instant rapport between English duo Skupski and Jubb pays off
Earlier in the afternoon, England’s Skupski was delighted to find an instant recipe for success after teaming with Paul Jubb to beat Scotland’s Jamie Murray and Jonny O’Mara in a third set tiebreak at the Schroders Battle of the Brits.
Skupski is a two-time Grand Slam champion in mixed doubles, having won Wimbledon in 2021 and earlier this year with partner Desirae Krawczyk, but he gelled immediately with 23-year-old Jubb – the duo coming out on top 6-4, 5-7 10-6.
Reigning men’s doubles world No.1 Skupski said: “We haven’t played together before and I thought we would take a little bit of time to get used to each other, but we came out flying and took the first set.
“We spoke before the match about some tactics and it seemed to work straight away – we’re both college guys and have played a lot of doubles in the past, just not together.
“But I know what Paul’s strengths are and we didn’t allow each other to be exposed. We worked really well together.”
He added: “We took the lead in the second set and thought we had it, but they came up with some good plays to break me.
“They got some momentum going and the crowd got behind them, but we stepped it up towards the end of the match which is the main part.
“As long as you win the last 10 minutes you win the match in doubles, so we’re delighted to get two points on the board for England.
“We’re in pre-season and it was good cardio for us.”
Tournament director Murray – a former doubles No.1 and multiple slam winner in men’s and mixed doubles – said of his first match at the event he has brought to Aberdeen this week: “Today we found ourselves down in the match, managed to get back into it, and it was kind of a shame the way we finished, but it was good fun, I enjoyed it.”
O’Mara, given the nickname the Price of Arbroath by courtside master of ceremonies Des Clarke, clearly revelled in his opportunity to rally the crowd whenever possible.
He loved being part of the entertainment, but was frustrated he took so long to get going in the match.
O’Mara said: “I had to find something. It’s not easy out there, but I enjoyed the 10 minutes of tennis I showed, so that was good, as did the crowd.
“It was so good to be out on the court with Jamie and this whole event, being with Jamie, Andy and Aidan (McHugh), it’s madness really.”
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