STEPANEK BLOWS MURRAY OFF COURSE – STILL ANDY SAILS THROUGH
Going into the French Open, Captain Andy and the good ship Murray were quite alive. The Brit was moving along quite nicely and finding smooth sailing. The tennis winds were at his back. The Red Sea is far from France – still, coming into Roland Garros it seemed that the waters had parted for Andy. He’d beaten his prime nemesis Novak Djokovic in the Rome final to claim his first title in eleven months. Another nemesis, Roger Federer, had withdrawn. Could the tennis gods be any friendlier?
Well, yes. The French Open draw came out and both Djokovic and Rafa Nadal were on the opposite side of Andy’s draw. How splendid.
But writer John Huston quickly cautioned me that Murray would face the still-not-retired-after-all-these-years Radek Stepanek. I knew the Czech was an elite-level doubles player, but I thought he was over the hill. Once a Davis Cup hero who almost cracked the top ten in singles, his ranking was now 127 – notches below No. 2 Murray. Sure, he’s won just as many Slam titles as Andy – two. But his titles are both in doubles. He’s never moved beyond the quarters in a singles Slam, he had few wins over top ten players, and he’d won just five matches this year. Goodness, Stepanek had to qualify just to get into the draw. And, by the way, no one his age, 37, has even reached the second round of a Slam since Jimmy Connors in 1992.
This would be a cakewalk. The record book told us that Murray, when he was a kid, lost to Arnaud Clement, ranked No. 91. But the Duke of Dunblane had never fallen to a player at a Grand Slam who was ranked as low as No. 129. Then I heard an unhappy, disassociated voice in the press room. “Blimey, that’s all we need,” mumbled a writer from the British section. “We have a full two weeks of stories to do.”
Inexplicably, Stepanek had raced to a commanding 6-3, 6-3 lead.
Maybe, according to the best conspiracy theory we’ve heard here yet, all this was just the ghost of France’s Amelie Mauresmo channeling herself at Roland Garros. She and Murray had just departed amidst controversy. Mauresmo said Murray was a complex fellow, and she didn’t like being cussed out in the Friends Box when he was melting down on court. Reports circulated that there had been a nasty departure in Madrid. But Murray said no way, that things were calm when they spoke, and that the prime reason they split was because for the three months before the French Open and Wimbledon, Amelie, a new mother, wasn’t able to spend any significant time with him.
Of course, anyone who faces Stepanek can use a few coaching tips. On court Monday he used his hybrid version of classic Czech tennis to befuddle Murray. Sure, some thought that all the Czech had left was his cunning, his savvy, his anticipation and his patience. Here was a quintessential veteran, wily and crafty. But that’s it. Except that we do live in an era when, according to one observer, “37 is the new 13.”
The two-time Davis Cup hero didn’t hesitate to probe with his flat (where’s the backswing?) forehand, which finds all the corners of the court. The doubles whiz takes the ball early and charges the net. Few use the drop shot with more aggression. His volleys are wise, well-angled and rarely overcooked. Plus, Stepanek plays with fire.
A long time ago, Radek tried to scrub his game of passion. “Once I tried to play [with] zero emotion…and lost [the match] love and one…That showed me that I can’t play with a poker face.” So after Stepanek hit a brilliant crosscourt backhand, he riled up the metro-cool crowd, in their designer blue jeans, scruffy but hip beards, pink sweaters and flawlessly wrapped scarves.
Monday was far from flawless for Murray. He stood far back in the court, his returns were modest, he served indifferently and played with little conviction.
Quickly he fell deep into his dreary “mumble tank.” And who, since McEnroe, roars, snarls or glares with more fury than Murray? As usual – dressed in his just slightly grim black outfit – he conjured up images of a Shakespearean prince as he railed to the ump, to his coaches, to the fans, to himself or to the heavens. “Why me, why such a fate?” he seemed to ask no one in particular. “Isn’t life so unfair?” Radio Roland Garros told us that Andy “has to be annoyed at something. There always has to be something of a fight.”
Today it was with Stepanek. But after Djokovic, Murray is the game’s greatest battler. Eight times he’s come from two sets down to win. But he could only watch when Stepanek hit a deft drop shot, then a lob, then another drop shot. Such play – so inventive and full of nuance – delights crowds used to the power ball style that now has the game by its throat. Not surprisingly, Murray was frustrated and couldn’t find any rhythm. But he defends with a relentless intent and he came back to win the third and fourth sets.
The match came down to a one set shoot-out. And, as Boris Becker once told us, the fifth set is about the mind and the will.
The No. 2 player in the world found himself precariously close to his first first-round loss in a Slam since 2008. Serving while down 4-5, he was just two points from defeat.
But in a vastly entertaining cat-and-mouse battle filled with athletic scrambles, Stepanek at last showed his age. Fatigue is fatal in this game. A key double fault allowed Murray to break, and when Stepanek muffed a makable volley the Brit secured a two-day, 3:41, 3-6, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 victory.
Clearly a mighty storm had taken Murray’s ship off course. But amidst Stepanek’s squalls, Andy made mid-course corrections. He reset his sails and managed to come to port. Now he sees the journey ahead. All hands will be on board.
Some 211 years ago, a British fellow named Admiral Nelson scored a massive win in French waters during the Napoleonic War. So why can’t today’s chief admiral of the British tennis fleet prevail in the battle of Roland Garros? A Brit hasn’t had this good a chance in seven decades. But knowing Andy, it won’t be smooth sailing.
