Playing a Grand Slam match after 18 months, Andy Murray put up a vintage display to seal an epic five-set win in the first round of the US Open. The match had many elements of the old Murray – the gritty fightback, the court coverage, even the ominous muttering and fist pumps.

But everything else was different. The 33-year-old is pain-free after years but he is now a wildcard world No 115 with a metal hip, a pelvic injury and pandemic layoff and having played no best-of-five matches recently.

The last time Murray played a Grand Slam match – also a tough five-setter – the mood was melancholic and nostalgic.

Taking on 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round of Australian Open 2019 after his career had been ravaged by a chronic hip injury that he had tearfully admitted could end his career after replacement surgery. The retirement hint in the emotional press conference had prompted an outpouring of tributes and after a tough loss, the former world No 1 had to watch a video montage of his peers all but saying farewell.

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It was sentimental then, but also awkward considering the Scotsman had never said he was calling time. The whole point of the hip resurfacing surgery was to give his career another shot, apart from being pain-free of course.

Knowing Murray’s personality, maybe these tributes spurred him on, much like the ‘smug’ surgeon whose prediction about the end of his career motivated him after the risky surgery. Or maybe it was just the inherent warrior spirit that has seen Murray carve his space out in this era of modern tennis, battling multiple setbacks.

No matter what the motivation, here he was, back in the singles first round of a Grand Slam, back in a place most never thought he would be again.

Down two sets and a break and then a match point, Murray battled back by the sheer force of will to win 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-4 in a bruising four-hour-and-39-minute match and set up a second-round clash with 15th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.

A rollercoaster performance

In a much-anticipated clash at the Arthur Ashe, the former champion found himself on the back foot early on.

He lost serve at 3-4 in the first set and was down 0-4 in the second as she struggled to get a rhythm going while Nishioka, younger and fitter at 24, kept taking all his chances. The Japanese player did almost everything right for the most part even as a semblance of the Murray fightback began when he got his first break in the second set.

But the real trouble was when Murray lost serve in the first game of the third set. Any comeback now would have to be truly extraordinary against an opponent who was feeling it while his own serve and forehand were missing the mark far too regularly.

Anyone who has seen Murray play from his early days would have seen that he is often fueled by his own annoyance as much as the energy from the crowd. In a bubble, there were no fans except the host of tennis stars who stopped by. He had to find his strength inwards, the invisible force he keeps talking to during his matches.

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And Murray found his groove… somewhere in the space between his first and second serve, the time between his Grand Slam appearances, the emotion between a retirement announcement and his first top-10 win last week.

His fist pumps became more pronounced, his roars of “Come on!” more audible. His own disappointment was his motivation to do better.

The 33-year-old started playing more aggressively and proactively, forcing Nishioka into errors of his own. His serve became cleaner and he hit his forehands better, probably throwing the caution for his physical condition to the wind. He needed a medical timeout before the fifth for his toe but by then his experience made up for what he might have lacked physically.

Showing the determination that led him to three Grand Slams and become world No 1 in the toughest era of men’s tennis, he hauled himself into a 5-4 lead before taking the set on a tie-break. The fourth had no breaks of serve and a match point but he took the tie-break again and didn’t relent even when he was first to lose serve in the decider, fighting to take the match with a break.

The numbers tell the story of the rollercoaster performance: 59 winners to 77 errors, 14 aces to 13 double faults. Small margins.

He got just about 40% of his first serves in in the first set and doubled that number in the fifth, from six winners in the first set to 16 in the fifth, he found his way back.

It was not a pretty win by any standard, but in a strange way, Murray’s best tennis has always been the battling clutch one he plays when in times of trouble. It has long been a hallmark of his career, one that many tennis fans will be glad was not over when he thought it was.

Even with a metal hip and barely any match practice in the year, Murray showed up at the big stage. No matter how the second round goes, he has added to the tribute package of his career, one to be reminisced when he actually decides to quit. If there ever was the word ‘quit’ in his dictionary.