Murray fells Ernests in three sets

Great Britain’s annual tennis frenzy lives to see another day as Andy Murray defeated Ernests, 5-7 6-1 6-4, in the third round of the Artois Championships. Play was suspended early in the first set as intermittent rain made the grass dangerously slick. After the match was resumed, both players continued to have trouble with the surface, slipping and sliding as if on clay.

The Hawkeye challenge system was given a good workout in this match. For instance, at 2-all in the first set, Murray held game point when he hit a return that was called long. He challenged the call and returned to his chair, confident that he won the game. When Hawkeye showed the ball to be out and confirmed the original call, both players shared a good laugh and resumed the game at deuce.

The most bizarre part of the match came in the eleventh game, at 30-all on Murray’s serve. Ernests raced into the net while hitting a backhand that looked sure to sail out.. until the ball slammed into Andy Murray himself, who was sprinting across the back of the court, hence gifting Ernests with a break point. The announcer mistakenly announced the score as 40-30 in Murray’s favour and Ernests too did not realise that Murray had been hit by the ball.

The next point was equally unorthodox, as Ernests hit a sliced backhand which caught the let cord. At the same moment that the ball dribbled down to Ernests’ side of the court, Murray – who was running to intercept the shot – slipped and fell. Thinking that he had lost the game, Ernests calmly returned to his seat, only to be told that they were still at deuce. He finally managed to claim the break after Murray double-faulted on the next break point.

Having received an injury timeout at the end of the first set, Murray managed to fire himself up after a sputtering start and started playing more aggressively. Ernests appeared unable to adjust to the onslaught and rapidly went down two breaks in the second set, losing it 1-6.

More drama waited in the first game of the third set, as Murray took a tumble in the middle of a rally. He let out a sharp cry and went down heavily, in what sounded like a chilling reminder of his wrist injury in Hamburg last year. Ernests immediately went over to see if he was in serious pain, and a medical timeout was called.

After a thorough rubdown, the match was resumed. The players were evenly matched for much of the third set, with both holding serve up to 4-all. It was then that Ernests started to unravel, when he double-faulted and sent a straightforward forehand return wide to gift Murray with two break points. Murray could hardly believe his luck, and duly converted the opportunity to lead by 5*-4. He served out the match to love, and booked himself a quarterfinal berth against the defending champion, Andy Roddick.

Highlights of the match may be watched here, but the content is only available to British viewers.

Ernests’ next stop is the Boodles Challenge, which is an exhibition tournament held at Stokes Park Club in Buckinghamshire, followed by Wimbledon, which begins on June 23rd.

QUEENS R3: Andy Murray (GBR) def. Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 5-7 6-1 6-4

~ by Zahirah on June 13, 2008.