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Andy Murray eked out a tough five-set win over Germany's Oscar Otte on Wednesday to reach the Wimbledon third round. After the match, Murray claimed that playing in front of a large and vocal crowd was one of the things he missed the most during his long injury layoff.
Making his first appearance in four years at Wimbledon, Murray will next face Canada's Denis Shapovalov on Friday. But the Scot is already pleased with how his tournament has gone so far, given all that he has gone through over the last couple of years.
In an interaction with the media following his come-from-behind victory over Otte, Murray acknowledged the support he received from the crowd, especially when he was trailing in the match.
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"This has been one of the reasons why I have continued playing tennis," the 34-year-old said. "It is not the only one, but playing in this environment creating all these moments and these memories is something that one wants to fight for and continue. In the last hour and a half of the game, already playing under the roof, I felt that I needed more energy."
Murray seemed to be running out of gas when he trailed Otte two sets to one after pocketing the opener. But the Scot formed a connection with the enthusiastic fans at Centre Court, which gave him a second wind.
"I tried to connect more with the fans," Murray said. "I simply chose a few fans from the stands, and I continuously looked at them almost every point to establish a connection. I tried to connect with them, and I think we both gave each other feedback. I was aware at that moment of the great atmosphere that is created in a tennis match. It is a wonderful feeling to experience something like this."
"It is not easy when you have hardly played matches" - Andy Murray
Playing only his fourth tournament of the year, Andy Murray is clearly still suffering from ring rust. The former World No. 1 has played well only in spurts during his two wins at Wimbledon so far.
Murray looked on course for a straight-sets win over Nicoloz Basilashvili in his opener but then suffered a spectacular implosion. The Scot failed to serve out victory as many as three times in the third set, as Basilashvili won seven games in a row to force a fourth set.
Eventually, however, Murray managed to cut short his opponent's renaissance and move to the next round.
Against Otte in the second round, Murray led by a set and a break but again suffered a mid-match dip. The German capitalized on that and led by two sets to one before Murray fought back in the fourth.
After failing to serve out the fourth set, Murray broke Otte to force a decider, where he was clearly the better player.
Talking about his struggles in his first two matches, Andy Murray pointed out that he still doesn't have enough matches under his belt to maintain his rhythm for long periods.
"I think it is due to the lack of matches," Murray said. "In both matches, I have been up and playing well. It has only been that I have lacked concentration and ultimately what is necessary to face certain moments."
"If we analyse this match, it can be divided into four parts," he added. "The first and the fourth parts were very good for me. And the ones in the middle were quite poor. While with Basilashvili, three of the four parts of the match were good."
The former World No. 1 believes that with a few more wins under his belt, his movement and shot-making will improve. Reiterating the importance of match practice, Murray claimed that "it is not easy" to hit the ground running after a long layoff.
"It is not easy when you have hardly played matches, and you have not trained enough to stay focussed for 2 1/2 to 3 hours," Murray said. "If I don't know if you, for example, the same thing doesn't happen to you when you go five months without writing and then come back, it's not easy. I think that once you start playing matches more continuously and pick up the pace and get used to winning, everything becomes more instinctive, more natural."
"I don't remember the Wimbledon grass being so slippery before" - Andy Murray
Andy Murray also talked about the unusually slippery surface at Wimbledon this year that has seen many players lose their footing. A few of them (most notably Adrian Mannarino and Serena Williams) have even injuried themselves and exited the tournament after enduring nasty falls.
While claiming that the surface played better on Wednesday than it did in his previous match, Murray acknowledged that the slipperiness was more than in previous years.
"It was slippery, yes, although it felt better today than in the previous match," Murray said. "I hope it continues to improve as the tournament progresses. I really don't remember the surface being so slippery before. You know, a lot of slips at the beginning at Queen's and also at Wimbledon."
Murray is hopeful that the surface will ease off with warmer weather, but he pointed out that playing on grass has its own unique challenges.
"It's the nature of grass courts," Murray said. "But it's more about the way players are falling. I ran after an opponent's ball and was about to do something serious to myself. You don't want things be like that. Hopefully they'll dry up in the next few days. A little warmer weather will help. It's been tough these days with a lot of players hurting themselves and others with better luck, like me."
