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Andy Murray believes Novak Djokovic created a psychological advantage for him by winning matches in which he was facing match points. Djokovic, 35, has many times won matches when he was a match point down - most notably, Djokovic saved two championship points in the 2019 Wimbledon final against Roger Federer.
This week in Dubai, Murray saved three match points in his tournament opener against Lorenzo Sonego. A couple of days later, Murray saved five match points to beat Jiri Lehecka in the Dubai semifinal. After beating Lehecka, Murray made an interesting observation.
“Someone like Novak has come back from very difficult situations, & certainly it has appeared that players think about it a bit when they are getting close to the finish line. That's something I'm feeling a bit just now," Murray said, per Musab Abid.
Andy Murray on the psychological advantage of saving MPs:
“Someone like Novak has come back from very difficult situations, & certainly it has appeared that players think about it a bit when they are getting close to the finish line.That's something I'm feeling a bit just now”. — Musab (@Musab_Abid) February 24, 2023
Murray: I play for moments like this
Murray, 35, had two major hip surgeries several years ago. Since 2017, Murray hasn't made any deep Grand Slam runs.
When it became clear that Murray wasn't anymore the player he once was, some around him started asking him why he was still playing. “When people have asked me a lot over the last few years, like, Why are you still playing, or, What are you looking to get out of the last few years of your career, it's like, yeah, for moments like that in big matches, you know, the latter stages of events," Murray said.
Meanwhile, Murray has been pulling off heroics at the start of the 2023 season. In the Australian Open first round, Murray saved a match point to stun Matteo Berrettini. In his next Australian Open match, Murray recovered from two sets down to beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in a match that lasted nearly six hours.Andy Murray: “When people have asked me a lot over the last few years, like, Why are you still playing, or, What are you looking to get out of the last few years of your career, it's like, yeah, for moments like that in big matches, you know, the latter stages of events”.
— Musab (@Musab_Abid) February 24, 2023
Murray, who will be turning 36 in May, has turned the clock a bit at the start of the 2023 season and many are happy to see the three-time Grand Slam champion making some notable results.