ANDY Murray does not take kindly to an insult. Even if he thinks an offending remark is simply mistaken, it still rankles with him, sometimes for days.
Perhaps that was the intention of Jurgen Melzer, the Austrian No1, when he said during the week that his Great Britain counterpart might not be able to handle the pressure of playing in the Davis Cup on home soil. Murray hit back almost immediately,
pointing out that his record – including a close win over Melzer in the US Open – was proof that he could cope with pressure pretty well. And he hit back again yesterday, at the conclusion of his straightforward win over Austrian No2 Alexander Peya, with a sarcastic "choking" gesture.
"I was told I was not going to handle the pressure particularly well," explained Murray, whose recent autobiography was in fact called Hitting Back. "Jurgen was the one who struggled a little bit more today," he continued, referring to the fact that Melzer had been taken to four sets by Alex Bogdanovic.
"It's not nice when fellow-competitors make suggestions towards those sort of things. It fired me up a bit.
"The difference between the top five or ten players in the world (and the rest] is they deal with the pressure. I showed that when I was two sets down and within a couple of points of going out to Jurgen in New York."
Murray said he had not planned to make the gesture, which apart from the odd shout from a spectator on Peya's serve was just about the only unharmonious element of the whole match. For on the whole, the contest was a chance for a crowd of around 10,000 on No1 Court to welcome Murray back to Britain for the first time since he reached the final in New York.
With a lot of school students in the crowd, and the pre-match hosts doing their bit to whip up an atmosphere, this was far from the deferential, at times staid feeling which obtains during Wimbledon fortnight.
There were thundersticks – those annoying inflatable cellophane things which make a racket when banged together. There were horns or hooters or klaxons. And there were hundreds of Union Jacks, not to mention a smattering of saltires.
"The atmosphere was great, specially at the start of the match," Murray said. "I got a good start and the crowd were very vocal, very loud. His head went down quite early and the crowd played a big part."
In truth, it was a run-of-the-mill match, but there was one significant moment in it towards the end of the first set. For the first time in Wimbledon history, a cry from the stands of "Come on, Tim" was met with impatient disapproval rather than indulgent chuckles.
The supposedly humorous reference to the former British No1 Tim Henman has been the last refuge of the unfunny exhibitionist for years. For yesterday's crowd at least, though, it was clearly time to move on.
Some old traditions persist, all the same, and one group of home supporters were intent on displaying their admiration for the Great Britain captain, John Lloyd.
Decked out in blue T-shirts and all sat together in one corner, this lot at first looked like the Home Counties equivalent of the yellow-clad volunteers who were herded in at short notice to occupy empty seats at the Beijing Olympics.
But no. They were there for a reason of their own, as became clear during one change of ends when they all got to their feet and displayed a message, each member holding up a card with one letter on it. "Stand up if you love John Lloyd," the message read.
The rest of us, like the two players, remained resolutely seated. Let's hope Lloyd does not take umbrage.
The full article contains 659 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
