2011 Hopman Cup: Review Session 8 – Nicolas Mahut vs. Andy Murray
World number four Andy Murray gave Great Britain a fighting chance in her tie against France before losing it 1-2. Playing in the 8th session of the Hopman Cup in Perth, Murray played Nicolas Mahut in the men’s singles
match on Wednesday.
Murray and Mahut took to the courts after the opening clash of session 8 between Kristina Mladenovic and Laura Robson. In a hard fought three setter between the two newly turned pros, Mladenovic defeated Robson with a bagel win
in the decider.
Having played their opening clashes on Monday, the two played their second round robin stage matches yesterday. Murray had opened the event playing Potito Starace. Meeting Starace for the second time on the courts, Murray opened
2011 with a win extending his career head-to-head lead against the Italian to 2-0. Mahut, on the other hand, played his opening clash against 2010 Wimbledon rival John Isner. In a rematch of the longest match in Wimbledon history, Mahut was defeated by Isner
in straight sets.
Although Murray is ranked almost 130 places above Mahut in the rankings, it came as much surprise when the latter put up a fight in what everyone expected to be a breeze. Ranked 4th in the world, Murray finished last
year with two title wins; winning both at Shanghai and Montreal Masters and both came at the cost of world number two Roger Federer’s exit. Mahut finished last year with neither a title win nor a final appearance. This was the pair’s third meeting on the courts,
with the Brit already leading the head-to-head 2-0.
Winning the toss, Murray opened serve; however, the French broke through his serve to rush to a 4-2 lead. The Brit bounced back in the seventh game to take the first set into a tiebreaker. Losing only three points, Murray was able
to clinch the tiebreaker 7-3. It was thought that losing the tiebreaker would have broken Mahut’s confidence. However, the French would not give up. Following closely at the Brit’s heel, Mahut took the second set into a tiebreaker. Although he lost the tiebreaker
5-7, it cannot be argued that Mahut did give the world number four more trouble than the latter expected.
Murray’s win kept Britain’s hopes of grabbing a spot in the final alive. However, she now needs a 3-0 win against the United States to make it happen. Delighted over his win, Murray told the press, ''There was a big contrast in
styles with his serve and volley setting up a lot of passing shots and short sharp rallies, but it was a really, really fun match. I’ve played Nicolas a few times, they’ve always been tough matches, but I was lucky to come through. The first set he obviously
got ahead early and then I managed to get back into the second set. I went ahead and he managed to get back into it, so there was a lot of momentum shifts in the match which is good for the start of the year and it was an exciting match.''
With one game each, the tie came down to the deciding mixed doubles match. In a match that lasted a little over an hour, the French sailed to a victory without much resistance doing away with the Brits in straight sets. This was
the first mixed doubles match in Group B, which did not go into a tiebreaker.
Murray, standing at 2-0 in the event, plays his last clash against Isner on Friday while Mahut plays Starace on the same day.
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