LEST anyone’s memory fails them, there were times in Andy Murray’s tennis adolescence when his manner was hardly that of a show-court choir boy. Even now his choice of profanity to vent disenchantment with even the most unfortunate of error warrants swift on-air apology to viewers from television commentators around the world.
Yet because of Nick Kyrgios’s recent string of misdemeanours, the US Open top-rated first-round match will see third-seeded Murray cast in the role of everything that is good about the game.
Ever since the names of the 2012 title-winning Scot and the recalcitrant Australian were paired together in last Thursday’s draw, their meeting has been viewed with the same intrigue in New York where the sporting public love a scrap as world title fights were once anticipated across the Brooklyn Bridge at Madison Square Garden.
Make no mistake, Kyrgios is frankly fortunate not to be banned from the game after taking his heavily tarnished reputation to new depths of notoriety with his ungentlemanly changeover message to French Open champion Stan Wawrinka a couple of weeks ago in Montreal and he has few friends inside or out of the men’s locker room at Flushing Meadows.
Last week Rafael Nadal refused to partner him in doubles at a charity event staged at John McEnroe’s Randalls Island Academy. Earlier Chris Kermode, the ATP World Tour’s executive chairman and president, promised his wife a couple of day’s exclusive family time in Cornwall and was forced to spend the entire time on his mobile telephone sorting out the aftershock of Kyrgios’s much publicised ‘trash talk’.
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Even McEnroe, whose reputation as tennis’s most notorious felon when it comes to discipline is being threatened by Kyrgios, felt obligated to tell the New York Times: “He could be incredibly positive for our sport. He’s got a chance to be top five and win Grand Slams. But he’s rubbed a lot of people the wrong way and he’s going to get railroaded out of town if he doesn’t watch out.”
However, Murray, yesterday termed by Kyrgios as ‘the guy who has guided me the most over the last couple of years’, has no intention of turning the knife on his forthcoming opponent. Indeed, he almost took on the task of providing a character reference for the 20- year-old.
“Nick is a young guy, and we all make mistakes when we are aged 19 or 20,” said Murray, showing the sort of understanding becoming of a newly married with a first child on the way. “We’ve all done bad things but for him it happens in front of millions of people.
“A lot of the things he’s done are wrong but I also think that he’s still a young guy and people mature and grow up at different rates. He’ll learn and I don’t think he’s a bad person at all. He’s an unbelievably talented guy with a lot of potential that is going to be around the top of the game for a while. So a little bit of patience is important when it comes to Nick, because he’s young and it’s not easy growing up in the spotlight.”
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Regardless of the relationship he has forged with Kyrgios, Murray admitted to having no idea what the affect of being put on a six months long probation with the threat of a 28-day suspension and a further fine of US $25,000 if he misbehaves again will be on a player that presumably will also be a Davis Cup semi-final opponent in Glasgow next month.
“I don’t know how he’s going to respond, I don’t know what he’s thinking,” said Murray, who nine years ago caused discussion of a suspension by the International Tennis Federation for a shocking verbal volley fired at the umpire during a Davis Cup match against Serbia and Montenegro and broadcast by the BBC. “It’s obviously up to him and his team to find the best way to deal with it. I have no idea what happens if he gets a warning or breaks his racket.”
Recent form would certainly suggest Murray has nothing to fear from opponent who, by virtue of seeing his ranking drop from 29 at the time of Wimbledon to a current position of 37, is outside the list of seeds. The pair have met three times in the last 13 months, twice previously on hard court, and Kyrgios has yet to win a set.
At both this year’s Australian and French Opens, the hugely more experienced Murray comprehensively proved the variety of his game, superior movement, ability not to be phased by a big-serving onslaught from across the net rendered him hugely superior.
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Nevertheless even at Wimbledon, Murray is used to low- profile openers at majors. This year he began the Australian Open against Yuki Bhambri of India before Argentina’s Facundo Arguella provided initial opposition at Roland Garros and Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin tried his best at Wimbledon. All three together could have walked around the Billie Jean King Tennis Centre yesterday in total anonymity.
Tuesday’s confrontation with Kyrgios, likely to be afforded prime-time evening billing in New York under the Arthur Ashe Stadium floodlights, is considerably different. Nevertheless Murray is confident after his three previous wins. “I’ve played smart tennis,” he said. “I’ve tried to come up with a game plan that’s made it tough for him. I’ve tried to mix my game up; that’s my game-style and something I’ve worked on during the last 18 months or so. It’s worked well for me this year for sure and I’ll try to do the same here.”
And of course there are the self-admitted with a psychiatrist that helped Murray calm himself on court and might certainly also be of benefit to Kyrgios. “Now I feel healthier, I feel calmer, I feel more relaxed,” said the Scot. “In past years I was coming in here pretty stressed. It’s not like that this year.”