The BBC was under fire last night for Gary Richardson’s post-match interview in which he suggested Murray might get the ‘hair-dryer’ treatment from coach Ivan Lendl for losing the first two sets. Meanwhile I was actually in need of a hair-dryer, being an emotional wet dish-cloth after the knuckle-biting five-set encounter between the Scottish No 1 and relatively unknown Spanish player Fernando Verdasco.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23170595
I tuned in around five to see in disbelief a scoreline of 2 sets to 0. Could this be true? Did they not have it the wrong way round? Nope, Murray was losing. The Spanish guy played almost supernatural tennis at times, covering the court like Sonic the Hedgehog and creating angles you don’t normally see outside doubles matches. Andy brought out all his shots, but they weren’t enough, and in the end it just came down to hanging in there and waiting for the other guy to make a mistake. This he eventually did, putting enough shots out to let Murray equalise and finally win the last set 6-4. Murray looked the more tired of the two throughout the match and what won it for him in the end was his own persistence and a couple of over-long shots from Verdasco.
Whew!
Elsewhere on the i-player the Beeb repeated the excellent Kenny Everett biopic, ‘Best Possible Taste’. The guy playing ‘Ev’ is so good you’d swear it was the man himself you were watching; and his conflicted relationship with his wife and with his own sexuality is beautifully portrayed. It’s hard to believe that only 30 years ago people were dying of Aids in this country because they didn’t know about condoms. So watch it before it disappears from the i-player.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00xzvlw/Best_Possible_Taste_The_Kenny_Everett_Story/
Some things do get better. Homophobia is one – and tennis is another. Come on Andy!
Kirk out
PS Wordpress informs me that this is my 1775th post on this blog!!!
Sarada Gray 