Seven times this season Andy Murray has contested a deciding set. Each time, he has produced his best tennis in the clutch moments to win.
Lucky No. 7 came on Thursday at the BNP Paribas Open, where the Briton beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 in the opening round. Murray, who gave a glowing report on his fitness ahead of the tournament, outlasted the Argentine in a three-hour, 12-minute match to set up a second-round meeting with 15th seed Pablo Carreno Busta.
“In some of the matches I managed to win this year, I felt like I was fortunate in some of them, whereas today I really had lots of chances in that third set,” Murray said after the win, referring to his eight break chances in the final set. “I wasn’t getting them and was getting really frustrated. He was coming up with some big serves at times but I also felt like I made some poor decisions as well. The more chances that went by the more you think about it.
“I did really well to keep going in the end… Another brutal match and glad I managed to get through it.”
While Murray did not need to save a match point on this occasion — he saved eight last month in Doha, where he won four three-setters to reach his 71st tour-level final — he did have to fight off two break points at 3-4 in the final set. The 35-year-old scored the decisive break on his fifth break point of the ensuing game on an Etcheverry double fault.
Ethceverry troubled Murray in the early stages with his aggressive baseline game, combining power and spin to great effect. In a thrilling first-set tie-break, he thwarted a Murray pass attempt with fast hands at the net and later clipped the very edge of the line with a forehand winner on set point, leaving Murray incredulous.
Murray countered with depth and precision to turn the match around, finishing with 28 winners to his opponent’s 36. He closed out the win with his sixth ace.
The Briton did not drop serve in the final two sets, saving all three break points against him. He created 20 break chances on return, including 10 in the opening set and eight in the third. Murray also converted on his only two break points in the second set to force a deciding set. He remains undefeated in final sets this year after a pair of five-set wins at the Australian Open and his four Doha marathons.
“I don’t think it is a coincidence, but last year I lost a lot of them,” he said of his record in deciding sets. “I was talking to my team about it, just saying like the law of averages… this can’t keep going. Once I won one I did feel like I would start to feel more comfortable in those situations. Thankfully that’s been the case. Obviously winning all seven, I’m aware that at some stage I’m going to lose one of them.
“I worked very hard in the offseason to put myself in a great position physically, and I feel very motivated. Even when I’ve gotten behind in matches I’ve kept fighting, kept trying to find solutions… I won some matches that certainly if some of these matches were played last year I wouldn’t have won them.”
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