Thirty30 Tennis - The New York Times - Andy Murray : "Long Matches Not Good For Tennis"
Updated: Nov 26, 2019
The text that follows is an extract taken from the recent article by Ben Rothenberg in The New York Times, where Andy speaks about his near 5 hours marathon experience in the Wimbledon commentary box this summer and concludes that long matches are not good for tennis.
Ben Rothenberg, The New York Times, “After Hip Surgery, Andy Murray Struggles to Regain His Footing”, August 15 2018
Murray’s time away off the court has helped shape his opinions on some of the issues facing tennis.
He had his first experience as a commentator at Wimbledon, calling the quarterfinal match between Nadal and Juan Martín del Potro for the BBC.
It made him reconsider the best-of-five-set format the men use at Grand Slam events.
“It was interesting watching it from a different perspective, and I picked things up,” he said. “Like, ‘Oh my God, this match is incredibly long.’”
Murray, one of the hardest workers and fittest players on tour, has won many wars of attrition on court. But on the sidelines, he struggled with a different challenge to his stamina.
“As a player, I really like best-of-five; it’s been good to me,” he said. “I feel like it rewards the training and everything you put into that. But then, when I sat and watched the match - that Nadal - del Potro match in the commentary booth - it was an amazing match, it was a brilliant match, but it was really, really long to sit there as a spectator for the first time.”
The match, which lasted 4 hours 48 minutes - long, but well shorter than either of the subsequent men’s semi-finals - disrupted Murray’s day.
“That evening I had a meeting planned, and I missed my dinner,” he said.
“People that are sitting there during the week watching that all, I don’t think you can plan to do that.
A lot of people are going to be getting up and leaving the matches and not actually watching the whole thing.
The people while in the stadium loved it, but I don’t think it — as well, what happened in the semi-finals — is good for tennis.”
The full article can be read here.
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