Lifting Britain’s Hopes, Murray Returns to Final By NAILA-JEAN MEYERS Published: July 5, 2013 WIMBLEDON, England — After all the weirdness and wackiness at this Wimbledon, the men’s final Sunday will be the one most people expected: No. 1 Novak Djokovic versus No. 2 Andy Murray. It took quite a long time to get there, though. Djokovic’s semifinal against Juan Martín del Potro started a little after 1 p.m. local time. When Murray dispatched Jerzy Janowicz, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, it was 9:37 p.m. Murray, who lost last year’s final here, has another chance to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936. “I think I’ll be probably in a better place mentally,” Murray said. “You know, I would hope so, just because I’ve been there before.” Murray did not play the French Open this year because of a back injury, but he has reached the finals of his last four Grand Slam tournaments. He met Djokovic twice, beating him at the 2012 United States Open and losing to him at this year’s Australian Open. They have played once on grass, at last year’s Olympics, where Murray beat Djokovic in the semifinals. While Murray and Janowicz could not duplicate the drama of Djokovic’s five-set victory over del Potro, their match had its own twists and turns. If there was any question whether the moment would be too big for the 6-foot-8 Janowicz, a 22-year-old from Poland appearing in his first Grand Slam semifinal, he dispelled it in the fourth game of the first set. Facing his first break point, Janowicz unleashed a 121-mile-an-hour second serve down the middle to save it. He saved two set points at 4-5, again with huge second serves down the middle that Murray could not return cleanly. Janowicz raced to a 4-0 lead in the first-set tiebreaker with blistering forehands and a 138-m.p.h. ace. He won the first set when Murray double-faulted. “He’s very unpredictable,” Murray said, adding: “He goes for it, and he’s pretty loose on the court. That’s tough to play against.” But Janowicz double-faulted twice in his first service game of the second set, and Murray broke him. Though Janowicz was known for his powerful serve, Murray put on a clutch serving performance throughout. He saved four break points in the second set and held on to even the match. Before the match, it seemed likely the Centre Court roof would be a third player. Djokovic and del Potro took nearly five hours to finish, and Murray and Janowicz did not take the court until 6:19 p.m. Janowicz started complaining about the light after the second set and continued during changeovers in the third set. But he broke Murray and jumped to a 4-1 lead. The match turned with Janowicz serving at 4-2, 30-30, when Murray hit the net cord and the ball dropped over to give him a break point. Murray converted the break with a crosscourt forehand winner to earn an ovation and put the set back on serve. Murray won the next three games to take the set. Andrew Jarrett, the tournament referee, then decided it was time to close the roof. This time Murray grew angry, saying there was at least 40 minutes of daylight remaining. “I just feel that, you know, Wimbledon is an outdoor event, and you should play outdoors until it is not possible to do that anymore,” Murray said after the match. Murray had other reasons for not wanting the roof shut. In last year’s final against Roger Federer, Murray had the edge until the roof was closed because of rain, and the indoor conditions favored Federer. On Friday, Murray had all the momentum, Janowicz was rattled, and they had to take a 30-minute break. Murray said he calmed down in the locker room, took a shower and talked to his team. “Once I got back on the court, I wasn’t angry,” he said. Roof or no roof, Murray’s experience and composure were too much for Janowicz when play resumed. Murray broke him in the third game and won 89 percent of the points on his own serve in the fourth set. Janowicz double-faulted twice at 3-5 to give Murray a match point, which he converted with a winner. In the end, Murray was the better server, with 20 aces to Janowicz’s 9. Murray got 70 percent of his first serves in, compared with 55 percent for Janowicz, who had 11 double faults. Still, in his biggest opportunity yet in the Grand Slam spotlight, Janowicz put on a show. His game plan was a contradiction: going for it with lightning serves and peppering Murray, one of the quickest players in the game, with drop shot after drop shot. Janowicz casually did tricks with his racket before points. He shushed the crowd right before he served, getting a laugh. He slammed his racket into the net after a volley error, getting boos. He waved to the crowd lightheartedly when the players returned to the court after the roof was closed. The first Polish man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal, Janowicz said he did not play his best tennis Friday. But he is a character to be reckoned with in the future. “I’m still deep down really happy,” he said. “This was my first semifinal in Grand Slam, so tomorrow I’m going to be O.K.”
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 05:54:49 +0000