Fourth seed Andy Murray screamed with delight instead of pain after pulling off a five-set comeback win over Serb Viktor Troicki on Tuesday thanks to his remarkable tenacity and some help from a blushing ball boy. The Briton, carrying an ankle injury which almost forced him to pull out, prevailed 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5 in an enthralling match held over two days to set up a quarter-final with unseeded Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela. The raw emotion of coming through such a tough test prompted the sometimes dour Murray, still without a permanent coach, to shriek to the cloudy heavens when the win finally arrived.
“It was pretty stressful and tiring before I went on the court. I was really nervous, It was very windy on the court,” Australian Open runner-up Murray, who is yet to win a grand slam title, told a news conference. “Emotionally it was pretty challenging. I don’t think many people recover from a sprained ankle and a tear in a tendon in two days. I managed to come back from a situation that on another day or another tournament I might not have been able to.”
The pair returned to court for a one-set shootout after play was suspended late on Monday due to bad light when Murray had fought back superbly to level the match at two sets all. Having been uninspiring earlier in the tournament, Murray showed real fight after twisting his ankle in Saturday’s win over Michael Berrer but soldiering on through the grimaces. BALL BOY Troicki was angered at the start of the sixth game of the last set when a ball boy inexplicably ran on to the court right in front of the Serb as he was winning the point with a smash. The umpire ordered them to replay the point which Murray won, leading to more rage from Troicki.
In the end it did not seem to matter as Troicki went on to break the Briton the same game but the 15th seed then lost focus and his serve twice, having been two points from victory at 5-3 when he netted a drop shot to surrender the initiative. Troicki netted a backhand for the key break before Murray sealed victory with a cross-court winner on the line. “I guess this is sport. I was really close to winning this match,” said Troicki, who reckoned Murray was “not at all” hurt. “He played riskier, I was a bit nervous and didn’t go for my points. I cannot blame (the ball boy) but I was disappointed. I have never seen that before.” The Scot next faces the only unseeded player left in the men’s draw after Novak Djokovic’s last eight opponent Fabio Fognini pulled out with injury. A win over Chela will mean a semi-final against champion Rafa Nadal or last year’s runner-up Robin Soderling.
