Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray will face a huge test when he comes up against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round at the All England Club on Thursday.
Murray conceded only four games when blasting away his compatriot Ryan Peniston on Tuesday, while Tsitsipas came from behind to defeat Dominic Thiem in five sets after rain delays meant that their match continued into Wednesday's action.
Match preview
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Murray, who reached at least the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for 10 successive seasons between 2008 and 2017, has failed to advance beyond the third round of any Grand Slam since being forced to undergo hip surgery after losing to Sam Querrey at the All England Club six years ago.
That said, the 36-year-old has clearly prioritised rolling back the years to make a deep run at Wimbledon by abstaining from the clay-court season this time around, and he has certainly hit the grass-court season running after winning ATP Challenger titles at both Surbiton and Nottingham last month.
Murray's hard work and winning mentality could be set to pay off for him in some style once again, with the two-time Wimbledon champion losing only four games across three sets against fellow Brit Peniston.
After admitting to feeling some nerves during the early exchanges, the Scot clearly settled into familiar territory under the roof on Centre Court once he had secured the first break of the match, dominating from the baseline in vintage fashion, while relying on his under-rated serve to help him cruise beyond the finishing line.
"I always get nervous at the beginning of Wimbledon," Murray explained. "I like to feel that way. If I was going on the court and felt flat, [and] didn't have any emotion when I'm walking out there, that would probably be a bit wrong." That tension is only likely to amplify against Tsitsipas, who clearly carries significantly more pedigree than World No. 268 Peniston.
However, with Centre Court roaring Murray on once again, it would take a brave man to stake large sums against him overcoming the Greek, having already demonstrated earlier this year that his hip is capable of lasting five sets when beating Matteo Berrettini and Thanasi Kokkinakis both across the distance at the Australian Open.
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Tsitsipas, of course, reached his second Grand Slam final in Melbourne in January, but like at the US Open two years ago, he was stopped at the final hurdle by the record-breaking Novak Djokovic.
Tsitsipas undoubtedly remains one of the classier operators within his age bracket, with six Grand Slam semi-finals now on his CV. That said, grass has always openly been his least favoured surface, with this being in some evidence when losing in straight sets to an inspired Murray at the Stuttgart Open last year.
The 24-year-old had to overcome some adversity in the opening round against 2020 US Open champion Thiem, who was perhaps a victim of London's rain given that the Austrian was leading by one set to nil before Tuesday's outdoor play was written off. More than 24 hours later, Thiem's previously supreme backhand let him down on four occasions in the second-set tie-breaker, with his own ongoing bouts with joint problems potentially coming to the fore.
That is to take nothing away from Tsitsipas, who after blitzing his way to the first five points of that tie-breaker appeared to be moving and using the net more expertly than usual on grass along the way to comfortably winning the third set. However, Thiem fought back to force a deciding tie-break, with the Greek triumphing 10-8 after making a fine passing shot in the final point of an enthralling encounter.
After losing his nerve against eventual finalist Nick Kyrgios in the third-round last year, he will have to overcome a different but potentially much tougher mental test to reach that stage again by overcoming Murray at Wimbledon. "I'm not expecting your support tomorrow," Tsitsipas joked moments after his victory on Court 2. "[Centre Court] is almost like his living room."
Tournament so far
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Andy Murray:
First round: vs. Ryan Peniston 6-3 6-0 6-1
Stefanos Tsitsipas:
First round: vs. vs. Dominic Thiem 3-6 7-6(1) 6-2 6-7(5) 7-6(8)
Head To Head
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US Open (2021) - First round: Tsitsipas wins 2-6 7-6 3-6 6-3 6-4
Stuttgart (2022) - Quarter-final: Murray wins 7-6 6-3
The pair have only played each other twice on the ATP Tour, with one of those being Murray's aforementioned victory on grass in Germany last year.
Tsitsipas prevailed in the duo's only Grand Slam meeting, coming from 2-1 in sets down to grind his way through to the second-round of the US Open. However, the Scot came into that tournament ranked outside the top 100 players in the world, whereas he currently stands at No. 40.
We say: Tsitsipas in five sets
Tsitsipas can be an emotive character at times, and we envisage him struggling to deal with the Centre Court crowd should they support Murray as raucously as expected, with time running out for the 36-year-old to challenge for a third Wimbledon title.
The Scot was barely challenged by his lowly-ranked compatriot Peniston on Tuesday, and he will benefit from an additional day's rest compared to his opponent.
However, we would not be surprised if their second-round meeting ends up being a repeat of the opening round at the US Open three years ago, with Tsitsipas' youth and physicality helping him come from behind to break plenty of hearts within the vicinity and beyond.
Brett Curtis
