Andy Murray believes that Novak Djokovic created a psychological advantage for him by winning matches where he was up against 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 semi-final in Dubai. After beating Lehecka, Murray made an interesting observation.
“Someone like Novak has come through very difficult situations, and it certainly has seemed like the players think a little bit when they get close to the finish line. That’s something I’m feeling a little bit right now,” Murray said, according to Musab Abid.
Murray, 35, underwent two major hip operations several years ago. Since 2017, Murray has not made any deep Grand Slam runs. When it became clear that Murray was no longer the player he used to be, some around him began to question why he was still playing.
“When people have asked me a lot in recent years why you’re still playing or what you want to achieve in the later years of your career, they’ve told me: ‘Yeah, for moments like those in the big games, you know, in the last few years.
phases of events,'” Murray said. Meanwhile, Murray has put in some big feats at the start of the 2023 season. In the first round of the Australian Open, Murray saved a match point to upset Matteo Berrettini. In her next match at the Australian Open, Murray rallied from two sets down to beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in a match that lasted almost six hours.
Djokovic has broken a new record
This Monday, Novak Djokovic broke a new record by overtaking Steffi Graf… And not least. With 378 weeks on the clock, he is the player, men and women combined, having spent the most time in the place of world number 1.
Asked by L’Equipe for the occasion, Nicolas Mahut defended Novak Djokovic, to whom he promises an even more exceptional end to his career. “Novak is going to have all the records. But even if he beats everything, there will always be a debate about the GOAT, which absolutely would not be the case if it was Federer or Nadal.
I think Novak is underappreciated. I understand what he said about the always negative interpretation as soon as he does something. Sometimes he holds out the stick, too. But I find the criticism unfair to all that he has accomplished.”
