Andy Murray Finds Pleasure in Tennis Again, After All the Pain

Murray is now 2-0 in 2020 after defeating Frances Tiafoe of the United States in another three-setter in the first round. Next up in the round of 16: a rematch of the match that gave Murray a second Wimbledon singles title.

It came against the big-serving Milos Raonic in the final in 2016, and Raonic will be across the net Tuesday on a hardcourt instead of on grass, and with empty seats instead of a full house.

It is an odd setting, one that so far seems to give an edge to the underdog. Dominic Thiem, the No. 2 men’s seed, was overwhelmed, 6-2, 6-1, by the unseeded Filip Krajinovic on Monday in Thiem’s first match back on the tour.

The top two seeds in the women’s event — Karolina Pliskova and Sofia Kenin — are already out, and the No. 3 seed, Serena Williams, came within two points of defeat on three occasions against the 72nd-ranked Arantxa Rus on Monday before salvaging a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (0) victory.

“There’s going to be a lot of scratchy matches in the first few tournaments,” said Zverev, whose next singles match will be in the United States Open, which begins on Aug. 31.

Murray, still an underdog for now, gets to keep on playing and preparing.

“I’m going to text him and see how the hip feels,” Su said on Monday night. “So curious.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/sports/tennis/andy-murray-alexander-zverev.html