Tonic and Tomic: Tennis court a refuge for Murray during turbulent time

MELBOURNE, Australia—There’s a lot happening in Andy Murray’s life off the court. As for what he can control—his life on the court—he’s handling that very well.

The world No. 2 outplayed 16th-seeded Bernard Tomic on Monday night, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (4), for a spot in his seventh consecutive Australian Open quarterfinals. The Scot has lost just one set so far in Melbourne.

Despite his continued success, there’s something much more important on Murray’s mind: His wife, Kim Sears, is expecting their first child in the next few weeks. Murray has said he will fly home if she goes into labor early, even if the two-time major champion is still in the hunt for his maiden Australian Open title. One of the many problems with this predicament is that flying home to Great Britain would take more than an entire day to complete.

Murray also dealt with some other unexpected stress on Saturday when his father-in-law, Nigel Sears, collapsed while watching Ana Ivanovic’s match against Madison Keys (Sears is Ivanovic’s coach). Murray raced to the hospital following his four-set win over Joao Sousa. Sears was released the next day and given the all clear to fly home to Great Britain.

“If the news was not positive, then, no, there was absolutely no chance I would have kept playing,” Murray said when asked about his father-in-law’s health. “It was just a tough, emotional few days at a difficult time, as well. For sure when things like that happen it does put things in perspective. Everyone’s just very happy that Nigel is doing well.

“I can’t believe something like that happened a few days ago. It’s shocking.”

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All the unpredictable factors beyond Murray’s control are nagging at him even when he’s whacking balls with the word’s best. Against Tomic, the 28-year-old had to refocus quickly. He stepped onto Rod Laver Arena in front of a vibrant, record-breaking crowd of 17,862, and promptly opened by breaking the big-serving, 6’5” Aussie.

The first set would be filled with breaks, five in all. Murray closed it out on serve, but not without many frustrated screams and whines in the direction of his box (where new mother Amelie Mauresmo was calmly perched).

“On the court tonight I was more emotional I think than normal,” Murray said. “I was talking to myself after every single point from the first point through ‘till the last, which was obviously not ideal. That uses up a lot of energy.”

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The crowd didn’t make it easier on Murray. Tomic was led by a vocal group of nine exuberant fans decked out in yellow tank tops and matching hats loudly cheering for the last Aussie standing. Their chants were met by opposition from four Murray fans dressed white Under Armour tops from the opposite end of the stadium. Murray’s fans were outnumbered and outmatched; unfortunately for Tomic, Murray himself was not.

The second set began exactly like the first, with Murray snagging a break in the first game. Tomic won nearly 80 percent of his first-serve points in his first three rounds, but he couldn’t sustain that stat against Murray, winning just 62 percent of first serves.

Though he was calmer and more collected than usual, Tomic’s shots were less effective than the Murray’s, and he racked up 56 unforced errors to his opponent’s 22. Murray was dictating play while his 23-year-old foe was doing more reacting and nearly bunting shots back.

“I was very uncomfortable from the start. He broke me the first game, it was just uncomfortable,” Tomic said. “I felt like I didn’t get that momentum holding serve. There were too many breaks in that first set and second set.”

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The final set was cleaner, and Murray later noted Tomic’s improved, aggressive mentality. The packed crowd pushed for more tennis until a tiebreaker was the only natural outcome. But again, it was Murray who handled the on-court pressure as if it was the only thing that mattered.

“I missed a few forehands in that tiebreaker which sucks, but I can’t take that back,” lamented Tomic, who hasn’t returned to a Grand Slam quarterfinal since 2011, at Wimbledon.

“I didn’t think we played the best match tonight,” Murray said. “I think at times there were some entertaining rallies but I think both of us were a little bit up and down today. I think both of us can play a bit better than that.”

Murray will look to do just that when he faces David Ferrer, who beat John Isner, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5, in the quarterfinals. It’s stress of a different kind, but one that Murray—12-6 against the Spaniard—is all too familiar with.