Tim Henman makes big claim after Andy Murray’s stunning Indian Wells win
Andy Murray roared back into form with his best display of 2024 to see off old foe David Goffin at Indian Wells.
Murray had won his previous seven meetings against Goffin and he made it a perfect eight with an aggressive and polished display to seal a 6-3 6-2 win.
After a miserable few months that saw former world No 1 Murray lose a host of matches and confirm he will call time on his career this summer, he appeared to loosen the shackles with a power-packed display of all-court tennis.
“That’s the best I’ve served here,” said Murray. “I’ve always struggled serving certainly the last 10 years or so when I’ve been here for whatever reason. Today felt much better.
“He’s a top player and has been at the top of the game for a decent period of time, but this is a match-up I have enjoyed down the years. I’m a bit bigger than him and can serve a little bit faster.
“The conditions are a little different here than in previous years. It feels a little bit quicker, so this felt much better.”
Former British No 1 Tim Henman was impressed with Murray’s return to form, as he suggested the confirmation that he will end his career at some point in 2024 may have allowed him to play with more freedom.
“Murray wanted to bully Goffin, he wanted to take the ball on, and he did that and kept the error count down. To win in such a convincing style is a great start,” Henman told Sky Sports.
“You want to see him out on court enjoying himself. He is a perfectionist but that hasn’t been happening.
“There have been a lot of positive signs for Murray in practice, but it hasn’t been happening on the match court.
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“By saying something like that (his imminent retirement), you want to see him out there going out on court and enjoying himself. He is a perfectionist and it hasn’t been happening for him.
“It might take a bit of pressure off him if he says the finishing line is here. He doesn’t have to worry about wild cards and getting into tournaments on his ranking.
“Every win at this stage of his career is a good one and to be in a Masters event against a player like Goffin, executing his game plan, is great.
“When you are investing as much as he has done in his career and he is getting nothing back, it’s frustrating. So that was a really nice win for Andy Murray.”
Murray’s hopes of a lengthy run in Indian Wells will face a big test in the next round, as he is set to face world No 5 Andrey Rublev in the second round.
The head-to-head record between Murray and Rublev stands at 1-1, but they are at very different stages of their career as the Brit is close to the end of his time on court and Rublev is looking to bounce back from his disqualification in Dubai last week.
Players who are defaulted for poor behaviour can expect to lose their prize money and ranking points from the tournament in question, but the ATP have come up with a different conclusion.
They have fined Rublev $36,400 and allowed him to keep his ranking points, with the Russian expressing his gratitude for the ATP’s appeal process as he posted this message on his social media platforms.
“I want to thank the appeal committee for approving my appeal and changing course on the ATPs initial decision of disqualifying me from the Dubai semifinal and taking away the rankings points and prize money I earned last week,” he stated.
“I hope that in the future, the ATP will take a closer look at this rule and make changes to it, so that an official can’t force a match outcome without having clear evidence and not letting the player have a video review.
“While I am disappointed that I wasn’t able to finish my semifinal in Dubai, I am grateful for all the support I had from you the last two days, I received a lot of messages.
“Thank you to everyone supporting me, I promise I will learn from this and will try to be a better player and better person.”
