IT WAS exhilarating and exhausting by turn, stomach churning in its intensity as the nation's assumptions about Andy Murray's destiny at Wimbledon were ground into the dust of Centre Court by Andy Roddick.
Unable to produce his best tennis when it mattered most, the absurd level of expectation weighing down on the 22-year-old's shoulders as much as the brutal serving of the American squeezed the life out of the Scot's challenge. Wielding his racquet li
ke Excalibur, Roddick enjoyed the freedom of an underdog and took advantage of the huge pressure on Murray. In golf, Tiger Woods has collected many of his major championships with a conservative approach, knowing the mistakes of his opponents will often eliminate the need for him to play aggressively.
There was an element of that shrewdness about Roddick's tactics as a more patient approach forced the Scot back on his heels. Not only did the American fire a huge proportion of successful first serves, he also varied his ground strokes and looked much less one dimensional than usual.
Finessing drop shots and contributing far more than just blunderbuss serves, Roddick put Murray under continual pressure. "He's not been reading the script," murmured Boris Becker in commentary.
Whatever the impact nerves exerted on restricting the flow of Murray's game at the start of the match, the early loss of a set acted like a jolt of electricity on his return of serve. Where he'd been hesitant he was now assured, breaking Roddick to love in the first game of the second set. For ten minutes or so, the Scot moved up a gear and delivered a breathtaking assault on his opponent's composure.
Although Roddick only lost seven points on his own serve during this set, four of them came in one game and that was sufficient to level the match. Watching the match on the BBC's high definition channel, the sharpness of the picture during some of the slow motion replays brilliantly captured the intensity of the contest. Whether it was Murray's mother, Judy, lending her son unflinching support from the players' box, or a shot of the beads of sweat falling from Roddick's brow, the gladiatorial aspect of this match was up close and personal.
Although it took a kindly intervention from net-cord, Murray again had three break points at the start of the third set: this time, though, the power of Roddick's serve dug the American out of a very large hole. "Psychologically, that was huge," observed John Lloyd.
In the fourth game it was Murray's turn to execute an exquisite lob when Roddick had two break points to show what he was made of. Still, an error into the net brought a spanking for the Scot's racquet before a long forehand conceded the service break. By way of adding insult in the next game, the umpire accused Murray of an inaudible obscenity. While he was clearly frustrated, the Scot insisted he'd said nothing out of turn. "You are 100 per cent wrong," he told the umpire.
Becker, who played in seven semi-finals at Wimbledon and won seven of them, confessed he always wanted to play ten per cent better when the big games came along. According to the German, Murray was too passive at this stage, which was why Roddick took a 5-2 lead. " Murray has to take the initiative," warned the former champion.
The clarity of the HD coverage was matched by the eagle-eyed Becker who was first to note Murray's clumsy footwork and raise the question of a tight right knee.
On the other side of the net, though, it was Roddick's demeanour which grew tight when he served for the set at 5-4 and was broken by a cross-court pass.
If the match had burned on a long fuse, the excitement of the third set tie-break was bewitching. Murray alternated winners with errors while Roddick was stalwart.
This was sport on the edge and the American's power proved decisive, bringing his wife, Brooklyn, to her feet and allowing the cameras an opportunity to linger on the swimwear model. It was the same story in the fourth set when Andrew Castle reminded viewers Roddick was all but unplayable in tie-breaks.
He was right, of course, and there was an air of disbelief on Murray's face as he hurried off court with a brief wave, leaving the former US Open winner to savour the moment.
While the contemporary obsession with celebrity meant there were plenty of shots of David Frost and Michael Parkinson leading the applause, Wimbledon embraces its own history and shots of iconic champions such as Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg and Ilie Nastase following the action on centre court served as a reminder of the significance of a compelling occasion where the young Scot only came up an ounce short and simply lost to the better man on the day.
