If grand slam titles were handed out to those who can deal best with adversity, Andy Murray would probably have many more trophies to his name.
The Scot is still in the hunt at the Australian Open after reaching the quarter-finals last night, beating Australia’s Bernard Tomic fairly handily, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6.
Four times the runner-up in Melbourne, the world No 2 will play David Ferrer but last night he admitted he was very close to pulling out after a serious health scare involving his father in law, Nigel Sears.
Sears, the coach of Ana Ivanovic and the father of Andy’s wife Kim, collapsed in the stands on Saturday night and required CPR and oxygen before being taken to the hospital.
Murray only learned of the incident after finishing his third-round match a couple of hours later and spent several hours with Sears in hospital.
Thankfully, Sears was given the all-clear to leave and he flew home last night but Murray, who spent several hours in hospital, said he had considered not playing his match with Tomic.
“Obviously it depended on Nigel's health,” he said. “If the news was not positive, then, no, there was absolutely no chance I would have kept playing.
“To be honest it’s not really what you’re thinking at the time. You just want the person you are going to see to be OK. The next day as well you have all the tests and stuff and that dictates what you do.
“Your tennis is the last thing on your mind at those points you are just more concerned for your family. Me and Nige are very close, we spend a lot of time together. I’ve known him longer than I’ve known Kim almost, because of what he does. It was tough.
“It was a tough, tough couple of days. There is a lot of stuff going on right now, back home as well. It has not been easy for anyone.
“Hopefully he gets better the next few days. I just can't believe something like that happened a few days ago. It's shocking. Nige is an unbelievably fit guy. Very, very scary.
With Andy on court at the time of the incident, Jamie Murray revealed yesterday that he had been the one trying to keep the Sears family updated.
“I was about to leave (the site),” he said. “I was just packing up my stuff to leave and I saw on the screens that something had happened.
“People started saying that it was Nigel. Then, obviously, I tried to find out what was going on.
“Kim and Nigel’s wife, they didn’t know anything – they’re just looking at the TV at home and seeing her dad there.
“So I just tried to find out exactly what was going on to keep them informed and hopefully kind of in peace. It was obviously pretty scary for everyone but thankfully he recovered pretty quick, it seemed.
Andy Murray said he would have liked to have been told if the situation was more serious but his older brother said getting a message to him during his match would not have helped anything.
“I texted my mum but I think her battery was dead,” he said. “It was a weird situation because Andy was playing. At least I could tell Kim what was going on and her mum, which was obviously the most important thing.”
“I was just getting information from the doctor and I was telling them. But he was breathing, talking, all that stuff, responding – he remembered everything so I think it was obviously good signs pretty early on.”
Second seed Murray said he had only decided to play Tomic earlier yesterday and he admitted he had been more emotional on court than usual.
Tomic, the No 16 seed, caused him one or two problems, especially late in the third set when he started to become more aggressive but Murray won the tiebreak 7-4 to take his place in the next round.
Dealing with all the emotions of the previous 48 hours, Murray said, should put him in better shape as the tournament goes on, particularly if he can get past Ferrer.
“The fact that I was able to handle everything that has happened the last few days is a good sign,” he said.
“I wasn't perfect today – far from it – and I didn't expect to be before I went on the court.
“I did show a lot of emotion and was very expressive on the court, animated from almost the first point of the match, the first game of the match. I expected to feel that way.
"But I think in the next few days I will definitely be a lot calmer. Get some good rest in and I think I will be fine now.
Eighth seed Ferrer took out big-serving No 10 seed John Isner 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 to reach his 17th grand slam quarter-final.
Canada’s Milos Raonic, sporting orange shoes, orange sweatbands, orange socks and an orange sleeve on his right arm, upset fourth seed and 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3 to set up a meeting with France’s Gael Monfils.
It was a good day for Jamie Murray as he and Bruno Soares reached the quarter-finals. They were due to play Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Rajeev Ram of the United States for a place in the semi-finals overnight.
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