Andy Murray and Jiří Lehečka played one of the most amazing duels this year in Doha. The British tennis legend averted five match points from the Czech talent and managed another of his magical turns.
Thirty-five-year-old Andy Murray has not yet won a tournament this year, yet he is one of the biggest personalities of the current season. It is he who offers fans the best tennis entertainment so far.
It’s only the end of February and Murray has already played three duels in which he fought through his opponent’s match points to win.
The indomitable warrior with a metal hip amazes the tennis world again and again, the media is writing about “Murray’s miracle” after Friday’s drama against Leheček.
When the world champion in deflecting match points and running from the “undertaker from the shovel” stepped up to the microphone after the match, he was clearly in awe of himself and what he had just accomplished.
“I don’t know, I really don’t know how I did it. It was one of the most amazing turns of my career,” said an emotional and tired Murray. And this Scottish legend already has something behind him.
He overcame a nervous Lehečka in the first set, but the 21-year-old Czech also showed extraordinary resilience in the fight for his premiership final. He sometimes drove Murray to despair with his aggressive, smart tennis or accurate volleys. He forced the third set and dominated it for a long time as well.
Leheček already had two match points at 5:3 on the return, then at 5:4 he led 40:0 on service. What appeared to be a formality turned into Murray’s breathtaking show.
“He was serving to reach his first final, so I knew I couldn’t stop pushing him. I know how hard it is to serve these matches. But honestly, I have no idea how I managed to turn it around,” said the three-time Grand Slam champion and two-time Olympic champion .
Despite the final failure, Lehček once again showed that the top tennis players must count on him.
“Andy, you turned the match around against arguably the hottest talent in the tennis world today,” the host said in a post-match interview with Murray.
The tennis player from Kněžmost has already won thirteen duels on the ATP circuit this year, losing only four times and always to a later finalist.
In Doha, he achieved the ranking’s most valuable win of his career, defeating the number one seed and fifth player in the world, Andrei Rublev. And he reached powerfully even after his premiership final. He will have to wait for him, as Sir Andy Murray was standing on the other side of the court.
Even the Scot’s opponent for Saturday’s Dubai final, Russian Daniil Medvedev, did not believe in a similar scenario.
“What Andy achieved here is something colossal. He already escaped from three match points against Sone. And against someone like Lehečka, at a score of 5:4 and 40:0? I was convinced that it was over. A huge thing,” Medvedev praised Murray and actually even Lehčka.
The Czech tennis player continues to build his reputation and position. He gathers experience from big matches, as he himself pointed out in Doha, he learns through wins and through defeats. Even if they hurt more. This one probably couldn’t hurt any more, but it shouldn’t affect Leheček’s well-adjusted head.
After the tournament, the new Czech star will most likely return to the elite 50 and will immediately move to Dubai, where he will face the German Alexander Zverev in the first round. After that, Lehečka will start preparing for her first starts at the so-called Sunshine Double, i.e. major American tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.
Andy Murray’s Turns This Year:
Andy Murray’s wins this season ????
✅ Saved 1 MP vs Berrettini
✅ Recovered from two sets down vs Kokkinakis
✅ Saved 3 MPs vs Sonego
✅ 3+ hours vs Zverev
✅ Saved 5 MPs vs Lehecka #QEMO2023 pic.twitter.com/KcE16a78uy— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 24, 2023
