It was a very late night. 2am to be precise. I couldn’t stay awake any longer. The 4th round of the 2015 US Tennis Open was being played. South Africa’s Kevin Anderson was up against Scotland’s Andy Murray. Murray beat Anderson at Queens. Exactly two months ago, Kevin freaked out Novak Djokovic at a Wimbledon match that put Kevin out of the competition, but only just. About Kevin, Mike (my husband) said, “he’s learning how to win.” I used that phrase in a blog letter I wrote to Kevin after that match.
The match started late after a ladies singles before it went to three sets. It was closing in on 11pm when Murray served the first ball. He had no idea how long a game it would be. In the 2nd game of the first set, I went to shower. On my return, Mike & David were grimacing. Struggling to hold serve, early match nerves nearly got the better of Kevin, but he persevered and got the score to 1-1. From then on, he settled and got on with the business of the day.
David went home.
Mike & Helga watched.
The first set laboured on – tie break with great success for our boy Kevin! He won! Mike & I were ecstatic.
Mike went to bed.
The clock struck midnight. I tweeted…
The second set began. Andy Murray’s behaviour became more obnoxious. The air turned blue as he screamed obscenities & screeched when he lost. Kevin ignored the dramatics and just carried on playing. After breaking serve in the 2nd, Kevin wrapped it up, taking the set 6-3.
I tweeted again.
Murray was FURIOUS. His bad temper was unpleasant to watch. Ugly outbursts, vile words and contorted expressions made for really horrible viewing.
While Kevin ignored it, there appeared some cracks in his game – his first serve let him down. I sat watching with my ears blocked and one eye closed. There were some tense moments as Kevin struggled to hold serve. When he dropped, Murray’s arrogance was too much for me. Kevin broke back! 😀
By now, 2am was looming. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I went upstairs to bed. Mike stirred. I groaned. He said, ‘shame, what’s the score?’ I said, “he took the first two sets!!” Mike: “What!!!?” I said, “it’s a tie break in the 3rd.”
I lay in bed in darkness, with the live score updating on my cell phone. I kept dozing off and then nearly dropping my phone, would startle, wake up and check the score. It wasn’t good.
Murray took the third set.
I couldn’t stay awake. Turning my cell phone off I fell asleep dreaming of a bad result!
As morning dawned, my mind woke first. “I’m too scared,” I thought. “I don’t want to look.” What if Murray did what Djokovic did at Wimbledon? I lay, dozing, thinking about ‘guarding my heart’ and not getting so emotional over this! I had to look. I refreshed the screen and it sent me to another set of match data, so I searched, “Kevin Anderson.” Up came his latest results. I slowly nodded. I smiled. YES!! “HE WON!” I exclaimed to Mike. “NO!!!” said Mike. “YES!!! He did it. He took the 4th in a decisive tie break!”
I was so happy. How can sport make someone so happy? I wished I could have recorded what the commentators said at the start of the match. They dismissed an Anderson victory from the very start. They began to eat their words after the first set.
Mike’s words came back, “he’s learning how to win.”
I went into the news sites. Let’s look at what the BBC wrote…
First Grand Slam 4th round exit for Murray since 2010. The match stats revealed the strengths and weaknesses on both sides…
Well done Kevin! He’s got into the quarter finals of a grand slam for the first time. He plays Wawrinka next.
Kevin showed how to handle obnoxious outbursts. Ignore them. Keep focused on the game. Keep calm. Don’t give up. Keep going.
Solomon’s words…
Ecclesiastes 9:11
“Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favour to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.”
Maybe Kevin’s time has come.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂