Andy Murray cried out in agony as he jolted his groin during his second-round clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas on Centre Court on Thursday night. The two-time Wimbledon champion was wrong-footed by a vicious forehand from the world No 5 and collapsed to the ground in distress with a loud yelp.
To his credit, the brave Brit composed himself and came back to win the game and the set. With that, Murray leads Tsitsipas two sets to one ahead of a second day of play with the scores at 6-7 7-6 6-4.
The match was halted as soon as the third set finished, 20 minutes before the 11pm curfew much to the dismay of fans, who felt short-changed and booed the decision to pause the action early.
“The ultimate decision comes from the chief referee Gerry Armstrong. It is the natural point to leave the match now,” said commentator Andrew Cotter on the BBC.
“Well they boo but 20 minutes to go, it’s not far from closing time, from chucking out time. Andy Murray has taken the lead and they will come back tomorrow. We don’t know exactly when tomorrow.
“The one thing Andy Murray will love to replicate tomorrow is this kind of atmosphere. That’s going to be hard to replicate unless it’s late on Centre Court.”
“Heck of a three sets though, that was a lot of fun,” added John McEnroe. “What a great atmosphere.”
Murray certainly gave fans their money’s worth though with a stunning comeback after dropping the opening set. Tim Henman said of his British succesor’s valiant display: “Unbelievable effort from Murray. Tsitsipas played extremely well in those first two sets. He’s played lots of big matches, he will be somewhat disappointed but this is where it’s important for his team to rally around.”
The 36-year-old looks poised to produce something special tomorrow in a tournament he always saves his best for. Murray will resume his match in the second tie on Centre Court on Friday, with it starting no earlier than 3pm.
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