Andy Murray won the Surbiton Trophy after defeating Yuri Rodionov. Photo: Getty Images/Christopher Lee
Andy Murray waited patiently for a thunderstorm to win his first grass court title since Wimbledon 2016, but the rain kept his four children from seeing him lift the trophy at Surbiton.
Murray last won a title on home soil seven years ago, his eldest child Sophia was only a few months old, and since then his young family has not attended any of his three tournament victories.
Since the ATP Challenger tournament in Surbiton was only 20 minutes away from his home, they would have had a great opportunity to cheer for him in person, if not for the weather delays that ruined their plans.
Murray's wife Kim Sears originally watched the final was on TV at home, but when he comfortably won the first set against Yuri Rodionov, she put their brood in the car and drove off, trying to surprise the former world number one.
They arrived just as Murray had three break points on his Austrian opponent's serve in the second set, but heavy rain interrupted play and delayed the match for a whopping two hours and 51 minutes.
The rain continued whip. there were concerns that the final might have to be completed indoors at the National Tennis Center in Roehampton, as was the case in 2016. With the situation still up in the air, Sears decided to take the kids home and they missed Murray's coronation. moment.
“My kids always ask me when I leave if I will come home with a trophy. In the past few years, this has been a rarity, ”Murray admitted in an interview on the court. “Actually they came two minutes before it started to rain and my wife had to take them home so they missed the end of the match. But I think they watch on TV. So Sophia, Edie, Teddy, Lola, I hope you're watching. I'll bring the trophy home tonight.”
Spectators protect themselves from the rain at the Surbiton Racket and Fitness Club. PA/Zach Goodwin
Speaking to reporters afterward, he added: “She [Sears] just texted me, 'We literally just got home, can't believe we didn't stay!'
Honestly, his kids would have had enough only 10 minutes of play as Murray stormed to a 6-3 6-2 finish, ensuring he would be home before bed to show off his new trophy.
Volunteers turned on the blowers and even tried to wipe the grass with a towel so the game could resume. At first, Murray complained that the back of the court was still “wet through”, but he ended up spending very little time on the slippery surface. After breaking Rodionov's serve with the first restart point – due to the fact that the 134th number of the world slipped at the end of the court – Murray served quickly.
Rodionov did not lose a set in his four previous rounds. in Surbiton, and he didn't even have a broken serve. But last summer, Murray confidently beat him 6-1, 6-2 in the first round, and it was easy again on Sunday afternoon.
The win made him the oldest grass court winner in Challenger history at 36, and he called it the “perfect start” to his Wimbledon preparations with only three weeks left before the tournament.
The win at Surbiton places him 44th in the world rankings and he should play at Nottingham and Queens over the next two weeks. He is still hunting for an outside chance to be one of the 32 seeds at Wimbledon, which is his ultimate goal: “These next few weeks are really important in trying to get a seed at Wimbledon. That's why I'm heading to Nottingham tonight to get some practice on Monday, even though it's still light.
“I hope I can do another good run there. I never managed to get into the top 35, top 32 rankings. But I'm getting closer. And I believe that in the next few weeks I will have the opportunity to do so.”
Earlier in the day, it was confirmed that Katie Boulter would overtake Emma Raducana to become the new No. 1 in Britain after Cathy Swan was defeated. her chances by losing in the Surbiton final.
Swan needed to win the biggest title of her career to guarantee her place at the top of British tennis, but ended up losing the final to Belgian Janina Wickmeier. in the tie-break of the decisive game.
The current UK top five rankings are:
This means that Boulter has reached the semi-finals at Surbiton to take the top spot in the UK rankings for the first time in her career, two spots ahead of her. Radukan in 126th place in the world.
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