Andy Murray said he had proved he could still play top level tennis after he beat No 24 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in a dramatic first-round encounter at Wimbledon last night,
The two-time champion, back on Centre Court in singles for the first time in four years, with a metal right hip, let slip a 5-0 lead in the third set but bounced back in the fourth to record a superb victory.
“I keep getting asked, is this going to be my last Wimbledon, are you going to stop playing?” Murray said.
“No. I am going to keep playing, I want to play, I’m enjoying it and I can still play at the highest level. He’s ranked 28 in the world. I’ve hardly played any matches and I beat him.”
Murray said he had used the time when the roof was closed at the end of the third set to regroup.
“I went and had a shower. I went to the toilet. Just a number one,” he said, as the crowd laughed.
“I was obviously really disappointed I lost the third set. I had to remember what it was I was doing that had got me in a winning position, I cut out some of the drop shots and I think I served a bit better and I turned it around.”
Murray said he had loved being back on the court, four years after he had limped off after a quarter-final defeat by Sam Querrey, when his hip was at his most painful.
“It’s amazing to be back out here playing again on Centre Court,” he said. “Such a brilliant atmosphere, it’s something that since I came back to play, in the last eight, nine months, I’ve really missed playing in front of a crowd.”
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