Olympic spirit hard to find as troubled Murray goes from hero to zero again

Published on Monday 11 August 2008 23:53

THERE was no question at all of Andy Murray not being motivated to play in the Olympics, though some apparently harboured doubts.

A British "fan" queuing to enter court No 1 just after yesterday's singles match got underway evidently did, snootily remarking that "Mr Grumpy (as she referred to Murray] looks about as interested as (Venus] Williams," before explaining that "it's because there's no money in it for them".

This, patently, was unfair. Anyone who attended Murray's press conference last Friday was left in no doubt that his excitement at competing in the Olympics was equal to that of a child about to be let loose in a sweet shop.

Murray, remember, doesn't really do euphoria, or not outward displays of it – but he seemed to be genuinely thrilled to be in Beijing, and it is inconceivable that a competitor such as him wouldn't come here to win. Admittedly, the fan did make one valid point: he didn't come for the money.

Yet yesterday's defeat to the unheralded Lu Yen-Hsun did repeat a pattern that we have seen before. As at Wimbledon this year, when Murray produced an extraordinary performance to beat Richard Gasquet, and then capitulated – albeit to Rafael Nadal – in his next match, yesterday's first-round Olympic singles tie appeared to be contested by a poor imitation of the player who just over a week ago defeated Novak Djokovic to claim his biggest ever tournament, the Cincinatti Masters.

It has happened before: in January, Murray won in Doha, then lost in the first round of the Australian Open to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – though that defeat could be viewed in a new light when Tsonga went on to reach the final; and in February he beat Mario Ancic in Marseille one week, then lost to the wildcard Robin Haase in Rotterdam the next.

Yesterday, however, there were mitigating factors, not least the fact that Lu, 71 places behind Murray in the world rankings, played out of his skin. The Chinese Taipei player received plenty of support which might have helped, but there is no getting away from the fact that he played some phenomenal tennis, while Murray was off his game. Such upsets do happen – such as at Wimbledon in 2005, when Murray, then 18 and ranked 374 in the world, knocked out the 14th seed, Radek Stepanek.

Another factor that can't have helped Murray was the surreal atmosphere at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre, which was about as befitting a major tournament as a car boot sale is comparable to Harrods.

Murray's excitement at playing in Beijing would have owed rather a lot to his expectations of the unique Olympic atmosphere. But when he walked out on to Court One it must have felt like a return to junior tournaments at Craiglockhart. There were rows upon rows of empty seats, making a mockery of pre-Olympic scenes of people clamouring for the latest release of tickets.

More spectators filtered in when Williams tied up her match, but at best the venue was half-full, with sponsors, allocated tickets they don't use, apparently to blame. An entire section reserved for people belonging to the 'Olympic family' was also empty.

The quiet meant that Murray's every word was clearly audible. As the match slipped away from him he communicated regularly with his small entourage, including his mother, Judy, saying on a couple of occasions, "I am trying!"

He was also irritated, to say the least, by the ball boys and girls, who appeared (over) eager to please, but were inexperienced. Often when Murray wanted a towel he got balls; when he wanted balls he got a towel. On another occasion a ball girl was scampering back to the net when she managed to stop herself just before colliding with Murray. Given the mood Murray was by now in, that wouldn't have been pretty.

His mood, in fact, was as dark as the clouds that appeared overhead as he contemplated being a set and two games down. What followed bordered on farcical. As the rain became heavier, and the players paused between games, Murray gathered his things, zipped up his bag, and stood as if to walk off court.

Meanwhile, the umpire clambered down from his gantry, collected some towels and began manually drying the court. Then whole armies of ball boys appeared to help, while Murray scowled from the sidelines, looking thoroughly bemused.

As it happened, the rain did stop, but the delay must have been unsettling – for both players, but especially for someone as out-of-sorts as Murray appeared to be yesterday. It was no real surprise that defeat followed so soon after.