Andy Murray amazes John McEnroe by copying Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon ‘Did not expect that’

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Andy Murray left John McEnroe asking “Is this Kyrgios or Murray?” during the Brit’s Wimbledon opener against James Duckworth on Monday. Murray fancies his chances of going deep at Wimbledon this year after a decent grasscourt run to the final in Stuttgart.

How his body holds up will likely determine how far Murray can go, but it’s clear his tennis IQ is still evolving even at 35 years old. There aren’t many players with more tricks in their book than Murray, but the Brit appeared to take a leaf out of Kyrgios’ repertoire in the third set against Duckworth.

At a crucial part of the match, Murray opted to try something different with an underarm serve which caught Duckworth out. The Australian scampered to get his return over the net, with Murray then firing a backhand in the air.

Duckworth then flung the ball in the air for Murray to smash home the winner. But it was the underarm serve which caught McEnroe out on commentary for BBC.

“Is this Kyrgios or Murray?” McEnroe said. Todd Woodbridge was equally shocked after Murray won the point, saying: “I did not expect that.”

McEnroe added: “I don’t think I have ever seen that from Murray. Wow.” And the three-time Wimbledon champion clearly hadn’t gotten over what he just saw, speaking about the underarm serve a point later.

“Nick will be loving this if he is watching it, which he will be,” McEnroe said. He’s spreading it, everyone will be doing it.”

Kyrgios has somewhat trademarked the underarm serve on tour with the Australian causing a stir with his antics on the court at times. He’s often been branded disrespectful for his tweeners and underarm serves, but there’s no doubt the tactic works more often than not.

Murray was trying to consolidate his break in the second set when he pulled out the underarm serve. The match was all square at one set apiece heading into the third, but Murray did end up holding before winning five straight games to take the lead.

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