Draped across a courtside bench, his face pallid and drained, Andy Murray was a spent force. After three hours and 45 minutes of relentless drama and unstinting endeavour, he had barely been able to raise his arms to acknowledge the raucous acclaim of a crowd who knew they had witnessed something special.
Now Murray was gathering himself for his on-court interview, no doubt wondering how he would find the words – or the energy – to account for his 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (10-8) victory over Frances Tiafoe in the opening round of the European Open in Antwerp.
Two days after Paula Badosa and Victoria Azarenka played the most protracted WTA final of the year in Indian Wells, Murray and Tiafoe served up the season’s longest three-setter, a pugnacious, compelling contest in which the protagonists were as bold of shot as they were of nerve.
When the pair last met, in Winston-Salem before the US Open, Murray fell to a straight-sets defeats after holding three set points. This time it was Tiafoe, the world No 48, who was left to rue missed opportunities. The American broke early in the opening set, served for it at 5-4 and 6-5, and twice held match point in the climactic tiebreak.
“I think that’s the first time in my career I’ve played a 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, I don’t think I’ve ever played a match like that,” said Murray, who might have preferred to mark such a milestone at an earlier stage in his career, before he had a metal hip.
“I think it’s the longest three-set match I’ve ever played by quite a distance. I’m tired right now, obviously it was an unbelievable battle. He kept coming up with brilliant serves and great shots when I was getting chances.”
Tiafoe could say the same. When the 23-year-old slammed down his seventh ace of the evening to bring up a match point at 6-5 in the third-set breaker, Murray snuffed out the danger with a booming delivery of his own. When another penetrating serve earned Tiafoe a second match point at 8-7, the former world No 1 replied in kind, a deep first ball eliciting an error.
It was the culmination of a serving performance that gave Murray – who struck 21 aces, staved off all but three of the 10 break points he faced, and won nearly three-quarters of the points behind his first delivery – the platform for a memorable victory.
With another potentially long match in prospect against Diego Schwartzman, the second seed, Murray was grateful to learn that he would not play again until Thursday.
“Obviously, my body is old now. I’ve played a lot of matches on the tour. I don’t mind playing long matches, but that was taking it to another level,” said Murray, who recently fell to 172nd in the world after the points from his 2019 victory in Antwerp dropped off his ranking.
Tiafoe, who shared a heartfelt embrace with Murray after the final point, later took to social media to hail the former US Open, Wimbledon and Olympic champion as “a true inspiration”.
“Everything you’ve been through and you’re playing at this high of a level and still keep your standards extremely high,” Tiafoe wrote on Instagram. “Asking for the best out of yourself and then some. All while having a metal hip. You’re the biggest competitor I know – the respect I have for you is through the roof.”