By Chris Oddo | Wednesday May 25, 2016
Gilles Simon and Andy Murray needed every ounce of energy they had to survive harsh battles on Day 4.
Photo Source: Dennis Grombkowski/Getty
At tennis’s most grueling major there is winning and losing—and there is surviving. Andy Murray and Gilles Simon may have won and lost today, if one looks at the big picture, but there can be no denying that each survived.
More: Wawrinka Has His Head in Paris Now
Relying on grit, stubbornness and emotions (and struggling with the otherworldliness of their opponents), Murray and Simon—five-set wizards who have combined to win a remarkable 41 five-set matches in their collective careers—pulled out all the stops today to get through. That’s great news for today, but as far as what it means for the rest of Roland Garros, well, let’s just say that many a pundit is currently venturing a guess on that, particularly in 2nd-seeded Murray’s case.
“Certainly wasn't easy,” Murray admitted after his 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Frenchman Mathias Bourge. “I mean, you know, I lost my way on the court today, you know, for quite a while.”
Murray did lose his way, but much of that was due to the suddenly emerging Frenchman, who had never won a tour-level match until the first round at Roland Garros. At times Bourgue was simply sublime and all Murray could do was tip his chapeau as another drop shot sauntered over the net in unplayable fashion.
Murray “found himself” just in time to wiggle out of harm’s way for the second consecutive day, surging back to send Bourgue back to the arrondissement he came from. He did it with heart, belief and some breathtaking fortitude. He was tired, yes, but much in the same way that he battled back from two sets down to conquer Radek Stepanek in round one, he never wavered. Murray has now played three consecutive days (2 matches) and logged in about seven hours of court time in Paris (In other words, get that man an ice bath). His Odyssey continues on Friday when he faces Ivo Karlovic in the third round.
“I managed to win the match,” Murray summed. “That's what I'm here to do. I don't want to play five sets every round and don't want, you know, to have big dropoffs in matches.”
Some already believe that Murray has squandered his chance to make a true breakthrough at this year’s French. Whether they like it or not, players carry the bumps and bruises from their previous rounds forward. Players start with a full tank of petrol at the beginning of a tournament and they need to cross the finish line with at least a few drops in the tank. What’s Murray going to have left if he keeps this up?
Perhaps we will find out next week.
Simon, never a favorite to win at Roland Garros, took punch after punch from Argentina’s Guido Pella on Day 4. And then he took more punches from the swashbuckling southpaw. Somehow, dazed and confused as he was, Simon found a way to triumph.
“I went through a lot of different things,” Simon said after taking out Pella, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-4 in front of a frenzied crowd that changed "Gillou, Gillou" whenever they felt their man needed some energy. "But I guess if you really want to know how I feel now is I'm just tired.”
A quick glance at the draw points to a favorable short-term outlook for Simon, who faces beatable Viktor Troicki in the third round. But if he gets through to the round of 16 and ends up facing defending champion Stan Wawrinka, what will he have left?
“I'm dead,” Simon said. “I'm absolutely tired. I think this was my 30th match in five sets (He improved to 19-11 lifetime in five-setters with the win). I don't know how I would rank this one. Maybe probably in the top five in terms of exhaustion.”
Both Murray and Simon deserve the red badge of courage on Day 4. They showed us what it means to battle. Tennis can be a finesse game—a gentleman’s sport—but when it gets ugly and the participants are forced to show their teeth and embark on a raw, chilling dogfight for survival, it’s where the bond between player and fan and blood and clay is deeply formed.
Murray and Simon may have hurt their chances of winning this tournament, or even earning career-best results in Paris. But they did it with dreamy, impassioned naiveté, fires in the belly and curses on the tongue. They’ll move forward with less petrol in the tank but with more fans in their stable.
“I think, you know, [I] showed a lot of heart the last few days and tough, tough matches, tough atmosphere today,” Murray said. “Maybe not feeling or playing my best, but found a way to win. I said the other day I have positive qualities on the court, and that was one of them. And I have showed it the last couple of matches to get myself out of difficult situations, and that was it.”
Simon was in a darker place than Murray as he needed seven match points to finally put Pella away. “I remember it was difficult,” he said. “I had a strange thought at one point. I figured if he gets me now, after having worked so hard, it would be terrible. But then things went okay.”
The dark clouds have lifted—at least for now. And as we wait for play to begin again on Day 5, there is a certain peace that lingers. It was all for something. Maybe not for the title but for something purer: survival.