“It takes time” Andy Murray empathises with Dominic Thiem after beating him in the Madrid opener

World No. 81 Andy Murray and World No. 91 Dominic Thiem met for the first time after three years when they clashed in the first round of the 2022 Madrid Masters. The matchup between the two US Open champions was won by Murray who claimed a 6-3, 6-4 win over the Austrian who was playing his third Tour event of the season.

It was Murray’s first win on Clay in over five years and his first match on the surface since he lost in the first round of the 2020 French Open. With consistent injuries over the last few seasons and rehabilitation after his surgery, Murray had skipped the Clay season the past few seasons. His decision to play in Madrid was a shocker having already announced he will skip the events this year as well. To get match practice, however, he accepted the wildcard and has now moved into the second round with a comfortable victory.

“I’ve hardly played on it for the last five years, but I did four weeks of training on it before coming here. I felt more comfortable than I usually do at the beginning of a clay-court season. I played well but I thought Thiem played well at times but he obviously just started playing as well, so making a few more mistakes than usual, but I was happy with how I played and I moved particularly well which is something I’ve been working on for the past four weeks, and it changes the way I play the game.

“I’ve tried to use the serve and volley and drop shot a bit, (Thiem) was standing very far back. It’s not a shot I practice loads but tonight I used it effectively. There were also lots of points where he hit the drop shot and I chased everyone down except one, and that was something I was really happy with because that’s something I’ve been working on,” said Murray after the win as reported by Eurosport.

“It’s very normal” Andy Murray on Dominic Thiem’s struggles

Having recovered from big surgeries including a wrist injury early which forced him to reduce the weight of his racquet when he returned, Murray could relate to the struggles Thiem was going through. Speaking at the net after the match point, Murray said, “I hope you feel better soon mate. Great to see you back. Keep going. It takes a lot of time but you’ll be fine.”

“I had a wrist injury earlier in my career but it’s difficult when you start playing again to let go, sometimes (Thiem) hit it fine but a few times when I used a slice it’s when you really have to use the wrist, and he wasn’t controlling it as well. Hopefully, with more matches and confidence it will come, but I think it’s very normal when you’ve missed so much time and had setbacks with the wrist, there will be a slight mental block, but with time I’m sure he will come through that,” added Murray further.

The Brit will now take on Canadian youngster Denis Shapovalov who is a good player on the surface and could prove to be a great test for the former World No. 1 who continues his bid to move towards the Top-50 of the rankings.

Also Read: Chris Evert slams Emma Raducanu’s doubters after her strong showing at the Madrid Open

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