Wimbledon 2009: Andy Murray Passes An Acid Test

Finally the much-anticipated match on Center Court took place which the anxious Brits had been impatiently waiting for as it was moved to the 2nd day of action following defending champion Rafael Nadal's withdrawal.

Andy Murray, who had been in sterling form for the past few months, winning four titles this year which included the traditional Wimbledon warm-up event, the Queen’s, had thrown the entire nation into an ''Andymonium'', reviving hopes of a possible end to a prolonged 73-year wait to see a homegrown champion at the world’s most prestigious Grand Slam.

And that was clearly palpable on Center Court where a vociferous support for the 22-year old Scot could be seen.

But the much-talked about player, whom even the mighty Bjorn Borg had touted to be one of the strongest contenders this year, had a stern test to prove his worth in the form of the 76th-ranked Californian Robby Kendrick, who is not known to succumb easily having pushed Rafael Nadal to the brink at this hallowed arena three years ago.

The 29 year old put Murray to a serious grinding and was involved in playing some amazing grass-court tennis which included some beautiful Becker-like dive volleys, much to the consternation of the spectators present, before finally throwing in the towel at 5-7, 7-6(7-3), 3-6, 4-6 after 2 hrs and 37 mins.

A confident Murray broke the American in the 2nd game and kept up the good work with some superb retrieving and smashing backhand returns. But the undeterred Kendrick backed himself up with booming serves and flatter returns onto Murray’s feet to finally break him back and level at 4-4.

But a hawk-eye in favour of the Scot and bolstered by the chants of ‘’Murray, Murray’’, the Dunblane native found his groove to take the first set.

Andy, who was kept rooted to meters behind the baseline to receive Kendrick’s serve for much of the match, still had enough pace on his groundstrokes and some deft touches at the net despite being under the pressure by Robby’s vicious serves.

Even though the footwork was perfect, the barrage of trademark returns from Murray’s arsenal was strikingly missing for better part of the match in the face of his audacious opponent.

With occasional change of direction, a tiebreak was forced by the man from Fresno who won it comfortably after a double fault by the World No.3, much to the dismay of a stunned and silenced Center Court crowd.

Compelled to up the intensity, the 2008 Wimbledon quarter-finalist now started serving even better and coupled with incredible agility from him, Kendrick now faced the heat and crumbled to give him the crucial break and subsequently the 3rd set.

The 4th set also witnessed a confident Murray attacking Kendrick’s second serves ruthlessly with occasional shouts of ‘’Come on’’ and fist-pumps.

The Californian still kept on playing his aggressive brand by going for the lines but Murray’s mind-boggling athleticism, incredible anticipation and superb slice including an excellent over-the-shoulder return eventually proved too much for Kendrick as he handed over the match to a much-relieved Murray on his second match point.

Kendrick bowed out holding his head high having delighted the crowd with his wonderful tennis and even imitated his dive while walking out.

Murray was tried, tested and was not at his best but it was a neat performance by the No.3 to pass an acid test and it was pretty satisfactory to see that the man whom many is considering as a potential favourite after Roger Federer, was able to brush off the rust and go a notch higher when it mattered the most.

The part of the draw that he is in, will require him to put in an even more polished performance especially because he has to face a precocious Latvian talent named Ernests Gulbis in the second round.