Andy Murray’s Wimbledon dream ends as Stefanos Tsitsipas wins Centre Court battle
At the resumption of a thrilling match against Stefanos Tsitsipas, it was simply about who blinked first.
To the disappointment of the 15,000 packed inside a court basked in sunshine rather than under the roof as it had been the night before, it was Murray.
First, in the tiebreak where he played too passively and again in the deciding set when he was broken with relative ease.
Having previously had just one break point all match against Tsitsipas, it always felt like a mountain to climb from there in what was eventually a 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-4 defeat.
There will be plenty for Murray to rue in the aftermath. Firstly, the premature curfew when he had shifted the momentum of the match massively in his favour and his failure to challenge when a shot of his was called out at 5-5, which would have gifted him two break points on the Tsitsipas serve.
Such are the small margins in which big matches can be decided.
It was a frenzied day of action on Centre, with the top two male players in the world, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, in action as well as the dominant force in the women’s game Iga Swiatek.
But a man ranked 40th in the world daring to dream of a return to former glories on the one court that has defined him above all others was the undeniable main attraction.
The tension was palpable from the moment play resumed such was the quality of the match and both players’ refusal to let it swing to the opponent’s favour.
Both sets of legs seemed heavy initially – unsurprising in light of what they’d put each other through the night before – before finding their way into the match.
From the outset, Murray’s tactic was obvious, to search for the Tsitsipas backhand or more pertinently keep it off the forehand, which had been employed with such brutal effect in the match so far.
This contest will be remembered for the quality and drama, and also for the what might have been on the failed challenge by Murray in game 11 of the fourth set. The British No3 was understandably furious with himself afterwards.
For the first six points of the tiebreak which rapidly followed, neither player could be separated with six straight holds of serve.
But it turned on a stunning rally, which the Greek won with an overhead smash for the mini-break. It launched a fresh bout of moaning from Murray, with his coach Ivan Lendl looking, as ever, unfazed from the players’ box.
Murray never won another point in that tiebreak and desperately needed to reset from the late passivity in that fourth set.
But in only his second service game of the decider, he gifted his rival three break points with a double fault and Tsitsipas pounced at the first opportunity, the first time the Murray serve had been broken all match.
Try as he might, he couldn’t crack open a chink in the Tsitsipas serve to depart Wimbledon at the same stage as last year.
