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US Open 2014: Andy Murray turns on style to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga US Open 2014: Andy Murray turns on style to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
(about 2 hours later)
Andy Murray recorded his best win since lifting the Wimbledon trophy last year to set up a US Open quarter-final against Novak Djokovic. If Andy Murray is to win the US Open, he will have to do to Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals on Wednesday what he did to him in the final two years ago: break his heart. On the evidence of their contrasting wins in the fourth round on Monday, that is not a sound betting proposition, although if the Scot can draw on his considerable store of perversity, he could surprise us all.
Murray had not beaten a top-10 player since his emotional victory over Djokovic on Centre Court more than a year ago but was unfazed by the New York heat to defeat ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 7-5, 6-4. A couple of hours after Djokovic had methodically dismantled the stubborn resistance of Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets, the 2012 champion was making slightly harder work of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the late-afternoon heat on Arthur Ashe. He won 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 25 minutes – about 20 minutes longer than it took Djokovic to beat the German 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 on Louis Armstrong, the court Murray regards as some malign architectural plot against his expansive running game. At least from this point on, he will be on the main court. If that journey is to last beyond his 21st match against the world No 1 (he trails Djokovic 8-12), he should be reaching championship pitch.
It maintained the Scot’s impressive record of having reached at least the quarter-finals of every grand slam tournament he has played in for the past four years. Murray was subdued but reasonably satisfied with his performance. “I don’t feel like I’m that far away from playing my best tennis,” he said. “It’s still a long way from trying to win the tournament: nine sets now, three matches, and just try and take it one set at a time. I’m maybe five, six days away from potentially winning another grand slam. I know there is a lot of work to be done between now and then.”
Murray said: “It was extremely tough conditions, very humid. It started to cool down a bit at the end but the first two sets were very long, tough sets and mentally quite draining. I’m glad I managed to get through.” As a veteran American tennis writer said on our way out of the press conference, “He always talks as if he’s got his toe caught in a mangle. He should learn to enjoy these moments.” That has never been the deal. The joy is for later; right now, he’s in the middle of his shift.
The 27-year-old will meet his long-time rival Djokovic at a slam for the first time since Wimbledon in the last eight on Wednesday and for the first time at Flushing Meadows since his maiden grand slam triumph two years ago. As for Tsonga, the ninth seedexplained his erratic tennis simply: “Tennis is never a straight line. Maybe today the line was like this [indicating a dip] at the wrong moment. But it was still pretty good tennis.”
“It will be a tough match,” said Murray. “We’ve had a lot of long ones, there are normally a lot of rallies. We had a long one here a few years ago; I’ve obviously got great memories from that match. Murray, of course, had much to do with Tsonga’s dilemma, selecting the slumps in the Frenchman’s energy to strike hard in each set. While this was not the Murray of 2012 – or Wimbledon 2013, when he was similarly tough in the final against Djokovic – he will take consolation from the fact that he added consistency to his tennis, something that was palpably missing in his first-round match against Robin Haase and on Sunday against Andrey Kuznetsov, when he dropped a set each time.
“Hopefully we can play another top-level match. If I play well, I have a chance.” This was closer to the performance he put in on Ashe on Thursday night – his favourite venue and time of day – against Matthias Bachinger. He was near flawless then, less so here, but there were encouraging signs he is getting sharper all round.
Murray had beaten Tsonga in nine of their previous 11 matches but lost the most recent one in Toronto last month from 3-0 up in the final set. Murray continues to make a good friend of the net. Against Haase he won 25 of 39 visits; in the second round against Bachinger he upped his percentage with 22 successful raids from 26; against Kuznetsov, it was 29 from 33; and on Monday he kept Tsonga guessing with his forward rushes, winning 28 of 31 net points.
It was the first time Tsonga had beaten his former junior rival in a competitive match for six-and-a-half years. The most emphatic of those was the backhand volley to take the first set, struck with thunder after pinning Tsonga deep with an equally firm forehand. When Murray plays like this he is irresistible. There was evidence of it in patches thereafter but he owed his win to stickability and doggedness, looking particularly spent after winning the second set. The third saw Tsonga’s game fall slowly to pieces, with two double faults in his final service game a sad sign-off to a tournament in which he has occasionally looked magnificent.
The Frenchman revealed ahead of the clash that there was no longer the same fear factor about Murray in the locker room, and he also sensed there was not the same power in Murray’s serve and groundstrokes. There have been passages of brilliance in the first eight days here when Djokovic has looked as good as he did in that long, unbeaten run in 2011, and he produced enough of them to beat Kohlschreiber with plenty to spare.
There was nothing wrong with the eighth seed’s serve in the first set, though; Tsonga managed to win just three points on it. The German, as good as he can be on his best day, was only occasionally at the Serb’s level in stifling conditions. “It was very humid for both of us,” Djokovic said, “with a lot of long rallies, especially in the second and third. It could have gone either way, especially in the second set.” That hardly told the story of Djokovic’s excellent serving (six aces, no double faults, 78 per cent winning points on first serve, 68 on second), or his low unforced error count of 19.
The disappointment for Murray was that he could not capitalise on Tsonga’s early edginess but more chances arrived in the 12th game and he took his second set point thanks to a fine backhand return. “It’s great that I have been playing some really good tennis, really high quality so far,” he said. “But it’s normal to expect that I’m going to have tougher opponents as the tournament goes on. A quarter-final against Murray, it’s a very tough draw.”
Murray certainly looked more comfortable back on Arthur Ashe Stadium and away from Louis Armstrong, where he dropped sets against both Robin Haase and Andrey Kuznetsov. He is in the quarter-finals for the eighth year in a row – and 22nd consecutively in slams since Ernests Gulbis put him out in the third round at Roland Garros four years ago. But he hungers for more than lower-level statistics. What he wants is success where it matters, on the final day.
Things began to get sticky early in the second set, though, Murray finding himself under pressure on serve for the first time in the third game and responding with a drop shot that limped into the net. He has won the title once in four consecutive finals, beating Rafael Nadal in a classic match three years ago. But what has consumed Djokovic at what should be the peak of his career has been his inability to regularly find the game with which he first challenged the hegemony of Roger Federer and Nadal. He won five of his first seven slam finals, then lost five of his next six.
He had two chances to level at 3-3 but was a little passive both times and was beginning to cut a frustrated figure. However, in putting away Sam Querrey, Paul-Henri Matthieu and Diego Schwartzman in the first week here, he did not drop serve, was broken only four times and converted 21 of 36 break points. Against Kohlschreiber he saved the only two break points against him.
He did not have to wait long for more chances, with two in the eighth game. Tsonga saved the first with an ace but on the second Murray powered a forehand winner into the corner. He looks ready to do some damage.
Suddenly the 2012 champion looked the more likely winner of the set, and again he struck in the 12th game, seizing on a second serve.
Tsonga had been having a poor season until Toronto when he beat Djokovic, Murray, Grigor Dimitrov and Roger Federer back to back to lift the joint biggest title of his career.
That took him back into the top 10 and set him up perfectly for the year’s final grand slam, but the odds were massively against him now.
The conditions were arguably tougher than when Murray cramped so dramatically against Haase last Monday but there was no sign of any physical discomfort.
What was the same, however, was that Murray had a dip at the start of the third set, serving a double fault to go break point down before Tsonga powered away a return.
He had to work very hard to avoid trailing 3-0, saving two break points, and he got his reward in the next game, breaking back to love to make it 2-2.
There was a far bit of ranting and raving – and some choice language – but Murray kept his focus well and played the shot of the match in the sixth game, slamming a running forehand cross-court winner off a decent Tsonga smash.
The pressure was all on the Frenchman serving to stay in the match at 4-5 and successive double faults was a dreadful way to start.
Murray nailed a backhand winner to bring up three match points and took the second when a tired-looking Tsonga placed a backhand long after two hours and 35 minutes.