Back Among the Living

NEW YORK—Perhaps it was the stifling heat. Maybe it was the unpredictable nature of Andy Murray’s game. Or his unruly forehand that let him down a few too many times. Was it that giant bug that made him cringe away as if from Kryptonite while trying to hit a serve early in the second set? Or it could have been the distraction of that soaking wet, heavy shirt that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga kept futzing with, and finally tucked into his shorts late in the second set?

Whatever it was, the net result was a classic Tsonga failure at a Grand Slam, and consequently, Murray is back among the living. Sure, only one guy gets to win any match, and in this era there are at least four guys—including Murray—who are clearly still better than Tsonga, especially on days that really matter. But the intriguing thing about Tsonga isn’t so much that he loses, it’s that he loses so often when, with a bit of luck, or smidgen more determination, a different choice of shot, or some slight realignment of the stars, he might win.

This time around, Tsonga stumbled in the fourth round against the man he beat in three sets just a few weeks ago in Toronto. The score in this two-hour and 35-minute clash was 7-5, 7-5, 6-4. Murray desperately needed to rack up a win over a Top 10 player—something he hasn’t done since last year, when he mastered Novak Djokovic in that historic Wimbledon final. He came to the right guy.

“Obviously, winning matches does build confidence,” Murray said afterward. “I played against some very good players this year and lost a few close matches. How big is it? I don't really know, to be honest. I'll just try and take the confidence that I gained from a win like this into the next round, and hopefully put on another good performance.”

The heat and humidity on this late summer day in New York was oppressive, and it played a role in the match. It was pretty clear that winning a set under these conditions would carry a great confidence dividend. Murray grabbed it when he created the first break of the match with Tsonga serving at 5-6 in the first set. The critical shot probably was a go-for-broke forehand that Tsonga attempted at the end of a rally; it put him behind 15-40. He saved the first break point despite missing his first serve. He missed his next first serve as well, and Murray unloaded on the second serve before charging forward to bury a set-ending volley.

It looked good for Murray at that point, but Tsonga broke him immediately to start the second set. He remained a break ahead until he served the eighth game. It took Murray three break points to punch through in that one (Murray had 13 break points to just five by Tsonga), the killing shot an insolent cross-court forehand winner that prematurely ended a rally.

Murray then broke Tsonga at 5-6, just as he had in the first set. The final show was a massive forehand return of serve that Tsonga could barely reach and plink into the net with his forehand. Given the conditions, the match was, for all practical purposes, over.

The strange thing about how all this played out once again for Tsonga is that he doesn’t really choke, or do anything else that might justifiably bring down the wrath of the tennis gods. When you factor in his natural talent and skill, it leaves lots of gaps in any analysis. Mostly, Tsonga misses by a hair a shot that he really needs to make by a hair. Maybe he goes for broke on a service return that would be better handled with a more conservative response.

Unlike less gifted players, Tsonga doesn’t do anything egregiously stupid or amateurish at a critical moment. Nobody loses more matches in straight sets that he just as easily might have won. Instead of finding a way to win, as Murray so often does, Tsonga just seems to find a way to lose—without losing face. Looking back on it now, his remarkable comeback from two sets down to beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2011 seems the exception that proves the rule.

Tsonga had one of the best tournaments any man has put together in recent times in Toronto, beating Murray, Roger Federer, Grigor Dimitrov, and Novak Djokovic to win. It gave him an excellent platform to build on as he set forth in Flushing Meadows, on the surface most friendly to his booming game. But here he is, beaten in the fourth round.

Going to the horse’s mouth on this subject isn’t much help. Tsonga is a nice guy who, in sharp contrast to his habits on the court, doesn’t give much away. “You know, the only explanation on what's happen today is my opponent was better than me,” he said after the match. “I missed of course few things, you know. But at the end we have to play each point, and he was just better than me on these three sets.”

Murray’s take on this issue is more persuasive. “Yeah, I just know from experience how hard it is to win one of these tournaments. I know how hard it is to go deep in them consistently, because the level of the game just now is extremely high. . . But over five sets, would say he plays a very explosive style of tennis. He serves aces; he goes for big shots; sometimes goes for maybe too low a percentage of tennis. Over five sets and over two weeks sometimes that will catch up with you.”

Murray, by contrast, hasn’t been playing especially well in any tournaments. But unlike his rival today, he’s been grinding and lifting himself, inch by inch. He almost crashed out of this event in the first round, but he found a way to win and here he is, in the quarterfinals of a Slam despite never having seemed quite “right” since he took most of the fall off for minor back surgery,

“Well, I hope so,” Murray said when he was asked if he considered himself a contender. “I don't feel like I'm that far away from playing my best tennis. It's still obviously a long way from trying to win the tournament, but it's only nine sets now, three matches, and just try and take it one set at a time. I’m maybe five, six days away from potentially winning another Grand Slam.”

Tsonga, meanwhile, is maybe five, six days from making someone else’s list of “best player never to win a Grand Slam.” It seems a shame, because someone with a game so appealing and combustible would seem to deserve better.