London: Until Tuesday, Andy Murray had not lost in the first round of Queen’s since 2012. After that unexpected reverse, which came in three sets against France’s Nicolas Mahut, your correspondent inquired how worried he might be feeling about his prospects for Wimbledon.
Murray responded with the same gimlet stare he wears when about to ram a second serve back down the throat of its owner. “Oh, panic stations,” he replied, in his most sarcastic voice. “I’ve got no chance to be ready now.”
Fair enough: it was a daft question.
In 2012, Murray would go on to reach the Wimbledon final for the first time, before claiming Olympic gold, and then lifting his maiden grand slam trophy in New York. By the end of the season, his Queen’s Club slip-up barely merited a footnote. But then, 2012 was his first season working with Ivan Lendl. Despite the odd off day, and Lendl’s stony manner, the vibes around the camp were as buzzy as a Miami Beach party.
In 2017, by contrast, the setbacks just keep coming. Tuesday’s exit, like Murray’s early loss to Fabio Fognini in Rome, was alarmingly underpowered. And the most grisly of the lot was the one Murray suffered against Borna Coric in Madrid just over five weeks ago, where he resembled a Challenger-level journeyman rather than a card-carrying member of the Big Four.
So if the 2012 Mahut loss arrived at the beginning of a cycle, Murray now feels as if he is nearing the end of something. Probably his hold on the No. 1 ranking. Once again, there is no need for “panic stations”.
Murray said the other day that he hopes to have two more years at or around the top of the game. And unless there is something physical going on that we do not know about, that sounds like a conservative estimate.
Is he up to defending his Wimbledon title, though? It seems unlikely. His colossal efforts in the second half of 2016 have exacted a lingering physical toll. Not once this season has he moved with the explosivity that once led his physical trainer, Jez Green, to compare his first step to Usain Bolt’s.
Even the safety net of best-of-five-set tennis could not save him in Melbourne, where he went down to the unheralded Mischa Zverev. And then there is the ennui. From last May onwards, Murray won nine of the 12 tournaments he entered. Twelve months later, all those points are surely weighing on his mind.
Every time he goes on court, he stands to lose a chunk of his lead over Rafael Nadal in the rankings table, now down to 2,105.
Whatever happens, Murray is guaranteed to stay ahead for another three-and-half weeks. But if he does not deliver a third Wimbledon title, Nadal will have an excellent chance of overtaking on July 17. Better, perhaps, to return to the chasing peloton in any case.
Should Murray’s crown slip, he might find it easier to concentrate on the next match rather than the intimidating overall picture. The past six months have taught him the lesson that John McEnroe once delivered in a neat aphorism: icy winds blow around the summit of the mountain.
