“Is the Big 4 era starting over?” That’s the question I posed three weeks ago at Wimbledon, after watching Novak Djokovic follow Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal back into the Grand Slam winner’s circle. The idea was meant to sound ridiculous, of course, but I found myself asking it all over again at 3:00 a.m. on Friday morning.
Until this week, the only member of the Big 4 who hadn’t made a stirring comeback after the age of 30 was Andy Murray. The former No. 1—now ranked No. 832—had been sidelined for 12 months with a hip injury, and his return from surgery had been painfully slow in all ways. When Murray was forced to skip his home Slam at Wimbledon last month, I began to wonder if he would ever make it back. Not everyone can do what Roger, Rafa and Novak have done, and return to glory at such an advanced tennis age, right?
After a long, hot, rainy, frustrating week at the Citi Open, Murray’s body may not yet have answered that question, but his heart certainly has. He hasn’t won a major event, or even a minor event. He hasn’t come close to playing his best, nor has he dazzled us with his variety of shot-making skills. He might not even be fit enough to play his quarterfinal on Friday night. But Murray’s performance so far in D.C., which culminated in tears of exhaustion after his win over Marius Copil at 3:00 A.M. this morning, has made us appreciate again what’s most important about him: His raw dedication to his profession.
Murray has played three matches in mostly searing humidity, and he has won them all in three sets.
In the first round, against Mackenzie MacDonald, Murray lost the first set and appeared destined to lose the second as well. He hobbled a little between points, and struggled to generate pace on his second serve or his ground strokes. Murray was reduced, mostly, to putting the ball back in play and hoping his young opponent got tight. But you make the most of what you have, right? It worked, and Murray snuck through when McDonald made a few crucial mistakes late in the third set: