BOTB Day 2: Edmund beats Murray in thriller, wins also for Norrie and Ward

Day 2 at the Battle of the Brits included three set singles wins for Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie. Reigning Australian Open doubles champion Joe Salisbury opens up his campaign victorious with partner Jonny O’Mara.

The Battle of the Brits, which has introduced exciting new ideas such as mid-match player interviews, shed light on player statistics regarding their movement data. Overseen by Matt Little (Andy Murray’s long term fitness trainer), the pundits talked about how the information gained from Catapult can help the players improve their efficiency of training. Joe Salisbury stood out in the first match of day 2 with his explosive movement.

Salisbury/O’Mara beat Inglot/Peniston: 6-4 6-2

“Team All Out” impressed in their encounter with “Team College”. Salisbury continually served with power and precision to set up putaway volleys for O’Mara. A pattern that was repeated huge amounts by this pairing today.

“Team College” was unable to ever get a foothold in the match. Service games riddled with double faults for Peniston cost them the breaks of their serve in the match.

The loss for Inglot and Peniston means they are now out of the contention for a semi-final spot having been beaten by James Ward and Kyle Edmund on Tuesday evening.

Ward (World #273) beat Broady (World #211): 6-4 6-1

A contest between two players in the world’s top 300, the lower-ranked showed up the better. Ward stuck to his patterns of play extremely well, targeting the weaker forehand side of Broady.

Broady, from Stockport, improved as the match went on but still did not have enough in the tank. A tantalizing backhand return winner down the line sealed the double break in the second set for Ward.

A standout statistic contributing to the win for Ward was his 91% of first-serve points won.

Norrie (World #77) beat Peniston (World #393): 3-6 6-1 10-4

This battle of the former college players proved to be tighter than was expected. Peniston, ranked 393 in the world, took the first set over his top 100 opponent.

Both Peniston and Norrie possess similar game styles which made for a fascinating watch. Perhaps from what they both acquired in their college routes, they hit heavy forehands from the back of the court and look to grind their opponent down into an error.

Norrie eventually did just this and managed to turn the match around, finishing off in impressive style with a 10-4 third-set tiebreak win.

Edmund (World #44) beat Murray (World #129): 6-7(2) 7-6(5) 10-5 

Both players were looking to continue their winning ways from day 1. This much-anticipated match up did not disappoint.

Each player held their serves comfortably in the first set, forcing a tiebreak. The perfect start came for Murray going 4-0 up and eventually, he took the tiebreak 7-2.

The second set saw much of the same. Relentless hard-hitting from the baseline, proving to be a stern test for Murray’s hip. Ultimately, Edmund fought back to take the match into a deciding match tiebreak.

Unsurprisingly, Edmund looked the fresher of the two as they entered the third hour on court. This had to be the main factor in this third set tiebreak, as Murray could no longer handle the punishing forehand of Edmund.

Edmund put his victory down to “sticking in there” with the former world number one. This comeback win for Edmund shows that he is real contender for the Battle of the Brits title this week.

For Murray, he hopes to recover well and be back fit to play James Ward tomorrow for a place in the semi-finals.

Evans/Glasspool beat Norrie/Broady: 4-6 6-3 11-9

This doubles contest was clearly up for bragging rights for the players. The often talked about player WhatsApp group had all eyes on this as to who would come out on top.

Although this was Lloyd Glasspool’s first match, he fit in tremendously from the outset. Glasspool and Evans displayed a more traditional style of doubles in serving and volleying and rushing the net.

The energy from all four players meant for great entertainment, so much so that no crowd cheers were not a problem for viewers getting a feel for the match.

“Team Peaky Blinders” proved to be the most effective pairing as they eventually came out on top in a thrilling 11-9 match tiebreak scoring. Bragging rights secured.

What to look forward to on day 3

Another injury this week has forced Jay Clarke to withdraw from both singles and doubles events at the Battle of the Brits. Paul Jubb, former NCAA singles champion and world number 427, will step in as Clarke’s replacement in the Greg Rusedski group. He will face fellow replacement Ryan Peniston in match two tomorrow.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CB1BQtiAg4z/

Day 3 at the Battle of the Brits brings two exciting singles matches to the court, as Murray will face off against Ward in a knockout match and British No.1 Evans will play British No.3 Norrie.

Tournament organizer and player Jamie Murray will turn his focus back to the match court as he will be back in action in the final match of day 3 alongside partner Neal Skupski. They will face “Team Peaky Blinders”.

Order of Play: Thursday 25th June (1 pm BST start)

Match 1: Salisbury/O’Mara vs Edmund/Ward

Match 2: Jubb vs Peniston

Match 3: Evans vs Norrie

Match 4: A. Murray vs Ward

Match 5: J. Murray/Skupski vs Evans/Glasspool

As always, we will be back for more here on Lob and Smash. Look out for another recap following Day 3 at the Battle of the Brits.