Murray denies being a 'drama queen'
Wade, the former Wimbledon champion, observed on Eurosport: "I have tremendous sympathy that his back is bad but I have more sympathy for the other guy as, honestly, you cannot play against someone who is being a drama queen."
Murray woke up with back spasms and struggled to put weight on his left leg after pre-match practice but decided to risk it against a player he has comfortably beaten three times, Kazinform has learnt from the Guardian.
For most of the first set he clutched his back, stepped stiffly over the clay and struggled to heave his serves across the net at 60 miles an hour before recovering to beat the bewildered Finn 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 in two hours and 27 minutes of gripping theatre on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The Scot needed three courtside visits by the ATP physio but was moving freely at the end.
However, he was still in pain an hour after the match and said he would wait until he had had further treatment before committing to playing in the third round on Saturday against Santiago Giraldo. As he saw it, he would almost certainly play.
Nieminen did not complain on court or afterwards of being affected by Murray's actions. "I was moving bad and I made a lot of unforced errors [51]," he said. "I don't think he was acting."
Yet Wade commented: "I would like him to deal with it without him looking like he was quitting. It does not do him any favours to then annihilate his opponent. Nieminen got distracted."
An hour after the match Murray gathered his thoughts before responding: "To me that's quite disappointing, to be honest. I know how I felt on the court. I know how bad it was. And then you have people like that who always have to come out and say something controversial when, really, they should be supportive or maybe ask me a question first before commenting on it.
"I've known her since I was a really young kid. She used to do coaching stuff with my mum since I was a really young child. She has no idea what I was feeling on the court. She doesn't know what was happening 20 minutes before I went out on to the court, what I was feeling, what I was doing.
"It is lonely [on court] but before the match I was there with the guys, talking about what I should do, and then, when I was out on the court, especially the first few sets, I wasn't looking up at anyone or engaging with anything they were saying at all, because I was just so down about how I was feeling.
"And I don't really see what the point would be in play-acting, going down 6-1, 4-2. I don't really see what the point would be in putting yourself in a position where you're about to lose, and stop the match, and then somehow manage to turn it around."
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