Wimbledon curfew denies Andy Murray comeback as injury has him screaming in pain

06 July 2023 , 22:00

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Wimbledon curfew denies Andy Murray comeback as injury has him screaming in pain

Wimbledon's 11pm curfew denied Andy Murray a thrilling comeback win over Stefanos Tsitsipas on Thursday night.

And the Scot and the Greek No.5 seed will return to Centre Court to complete their second round match on Friday. Tennis fans booed their disapproval when suspension of play was announced with Murray leading 6-7 7-6 6-4 at 10.40pm

The double Wimbledon champion, who slipped and shrieked in agony in the final game, left the showcourt to huge applause after two hours and 54 minutes of action. The match did not start under the Centre Court roof until 7.46pm following Liam Broady’s five-set win against Casper Ruud.

The No.5 seed started on fire with his big forehand and took the first set after a tiebreak before Murray, who is 12 years older than Tsitsipas, levelled the match after two hours.

The Scot took his first and only break point in the first game of the third set and served superbly but there was not enough time to finish the match on Thursday.

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Murray, 36, slipped on the baseline during the penultimate point of the third set before Tsitsipas sent a service return long on the second set point.

Andy Murray picked up a worrying injury at Wimbledon on Thursday night

Tsitsipas needed two days to win his rain-interrupted first round tie with Dominic Thiem which finished at 7.52pm on Wednesday night. Murray recorded the latest ever Wimbledon win at 11.02pm against Marcos Baghdatis in 2012.

He finally beat Thanasi Kokkinakis at 4.05am in the second round at the Australian Open in January after not starting the Melbourne match until 10.20pm. The winner will face Laslo Djere in the third round after the Serbian world No.60 knocked out No.32 seed Ben Shelton in four sets.

Play on centre court on Friday is due to begin at 1.30pm with top seed Carlos Alcaraz facing Alexandre Muller. Iga Swiatek v Petra Martic is also scheduled for the show court, as is the meeting between Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic, with the conclusion of Murray v Tsitsipas now on second on centre court and not before 3pm.

Neil McLeman