‘Life in the old dog yet’: Murray blasts back to beat Berrettini at Miami Open
In a season where wins have been extremely hard to come by, Andy Murray was rewarded for his perseverance in a brutal first-round match at the Miami Open as he recovered from a set down to outlast Matteo Berrettini 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The victory was only Murray’s fourth of the year and it sets up a second-round encounter with Tomás Martín Etcheverry, the 29th seed, who consigned the Briton to a straight-sets defeat in the first round of the Australian Open.
For over an hour, Berrettini outplayed Murray by serving extremely well, eviscerating his forehand and peppering Murray with drop shots as he took the first set. But Murray persisted and from early in the second set, he began to hit his spots on his serve while reading Berrettini’s own delivery increasingly well. He broke the Italian’s serve for the first time to lead 4-2 in set two.
As he was standing on the baseline preparing to serve while trailing 2-5, Berrettini lost his balance, staggering to his right and nearly falling down before complaining of dizziness. He was quickly seen by the doctor and physio but despite being OK to resume, failed to recapture his earlier level of play.
Although Murray made life difficult for himself against an ailing opponent, chastising his own play throughout the final set, and Berrettini showed resilience late on, the Briton held on to close out the win. Afterwards, the 36-year-old signed the TV camera lens without hesitation: “Life in the old dog yet!”
Asked by Laura Robson of Sky Sports Tennis about his tendency to criticise himself on-court, which on Wednesday included loud, cartoonish laughter after his unforced errors, Murray said: “If I’m laughing that’s not OK. If I’m shouting it’s not OK. If I’m flat like I was in Australia, that’s not OK. So it’s very hard for me to get the balance right. I’m very different on the court. I’m not a robot. I’m a bit odd, a bit strange. But I play better when I’m like that.”
While Murray celebrated a much-needed win, Berrettini’s difficulties continue. Amid a series of injuries over the last two years, he has been off the tour for seven months after a recurring abdominal injury last year. Having briefly fallen out of the top 150 this month, Berrettini returned to competition just last week, reaching the final of an ATP Challenger event in Phoenix.
Earlier on Wednesday, Jack Draper overpowered Taro Daniel of Japan in two clinical sets to reach the second round with an excellent 6-3, 6-2 win.
The 22-year-old’s victory sets up an interesting meeting with Nicolás Jarry, who as the 22nd seed received a first-round bye. An extremely tall player and huge server with improved groundstrokes, the Chilean will be a test as Draper attempts to win consecutive matches in Miami for the first time.
As has often been the case during his short time on the tour, Draper has been playing good tennis when fit but his recent weeks have not been without their physical challenges.
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Towards the end of his great week in Acapulco last month, the Briton had food poisoning after reaching the semi-final and he was forced to retire after splitting sets with the eventual champion, Alex de Minaur. A few days later, Draper was still feeling the after-effects of his ailment as he lost against Christopher O’Connell, the world No 66, in the opening round at Indian Wells.
The early defeat in California at least allowed Draper, who narrowly missed out on being seeded with his pre-tournament ranking of No 37, two weeks to train. He served well, conceding only one point on his first serve, slamming down 10 aces and not facing any break points.
In the exchanges, Draper successfully imposed himself from on top of the baseline against Daniel, a journeyman ranked No 78 on the ATP Tour.
After taking the first break behind a brilliant return game for 4-2, Draper’s shoulders opened and he played with freedom, powering through to a clean, routine victory.