Andy Murray's Washington Open exit: What we learned
Plenty of positives ahead
Thursday 6 August 2015 16:29, UK
Andy Murray's shock defeat at the Washington Open has raised plenty of issues ahead of the US Open.
The British No 1 slipped to a 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-4) defeat to Teymuraz Gabashvili on Wednesday night.
But, as these five talking points suggest, it's not all doom and gloom!
He needs more hard court practice
The warning signs were there. Speaking prior to the Washington Open, he admitted that he was lacking match-time on hard surfaces.
He said: “I haven't actually hit a ball on a hard court since Miami. That has been four or five months. It takes quite a lot of time to get used to the conditions.”
A gruelling schedule spanning back to the clay surfaces at the French Open, through the grass season to the recent Davis Cup drama forced Murray to use the Washington Open as a high-profile practice session on hard courts. His assessment that it takes time to readjust to different surfaces ahead of the US Open was emphatically proved by the better-prepared Gabashvili.
Murray came within inches of actually winning!
Amid the hysteria of a shock defeat to an unheralded opponent, it should be noted that Murray was serving for the match in the third set and appeared odds-on to avoid the question marks that surround him the morning after the night before.
The Scot was broken in that crucial game before Gabashvili then staged a second impressive fightback in the third-set tie break, winning four points in a row to battle back from a losing position.
"It wasn’t like I was blown off the court in a match that I had no chance of winning," Murray said. "I feel like I put myself in a position to win the match."
That slip-up on his service game, although he was also broken twice in the first set, eventually cost Murray the match – a glitch in his game that is surely solvable before his next outing.
His returns were unusually poor...
The athletic Scot is regarded as one of tennis’ greatest returners, often spotted darting at breakneck speed behind his base-line to retrieve balls that would elude less jet-heeled players.
But with Gabashvili on serve, Murray seemed shorn of his usual abilities on the other side of the court. Particularly during the tie-break that eventually decided the match, Gabashvili seemed to enjoy an unusually straightforward route with his serve.
"I normally back myself to return a little bit better than I did," Murray said. "I think in the tie-break I don’t think I put one return in the court when he was serving. I feel like I didn’t do a good enough job of putting enough first serve points in the court.”
Was his workload too much?
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, the world No 1 and 2 respectively, were conspicuous by their absence in Washington, enjoying a rest while Murray slogged through a notoriously rugged tournament.
His time in the humidity of Washington was ultimately limited to less than three hours but, coming off the back of a Davis Cup campaign which directly followed a semi-final run at Wimbledon, would Murray have benefited from putting his feet up?
Well, Murray will now enter the Montreal Open fresh as a daisy after some time off so, as the ultimate goal of the US Open edges closer, he may have timed his preparations perfectly after all.
Murray has enjoyed past Stateside success
His first match of the annual North American hard court swing may have gone in the worst possible way but Murray’s record at this time of year suggests it’s all to play for.
A decade ago the 18-year-old impressed in Cincinnati, and he won Canadian titles in 2009 and 2010. Three years ago, his first Grand Slam was secured on American soil while he has, of course, made Miami his chief training base.
The continent has been kind to the British No 1’s career – he even visited the White House prior to the Washington tournament!
