Shotmaking: Andy Murray d. Adrian Mannarino; Bernard Tomic d. Lleyton Hewitt

In our Shotmaking series, Anita Aguilar will provide the photos and Steve Tignor will provide the captions. Together, they'll tell the story of a match at the U.S. Open.

Our latest edition focuses on two five-setters from Thursday: Andy Murray's 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 comeback win over Adrian Mannarino:

A raging baby waving his rattle? No, that’s Andy Murray in mid-rant at the U.S. Open. The No. 3 seed lost the first two sets to the 35th-ranked Adrian Mannarino.

Murray couldn’t find his groove early, as Mannarino’s flat, deceptive shots had him tied up in knots...

..and scrambling just to keep up. “He has such an unorthodox game,” Murray said of Mannarino. “I didn’t really feel comfortable at many points out there in the match.”

This was obviously one of those uncomfortable points.

This, too.

Finally, Murray had to shoot a look over at his tormentor.

Murray spent much of this match barking sarcastically in the direction of his player’s box, but here he let out a little positive energy. “I’m proud of the way I fought,” he said.

Mannarino’s strokes are short, flat, and tough to read. Here he comes in...

..for a roundhouse chop forehand.

Here, his topspin version lifts him off the court.

Murray leaning into a backhand...

...and doing a little rare revving of the New York crowd after winning a great point. The Open will bring out the Broadway in anyone.

By the end, Murray's much-abused team was on its feet, and his wife, Kim Sears (front right), flashed her first smile of a long afternoon.

Murray may have wanted to save more energy on a hot day like this, but he was happy to advance...

...and throw an (Adidas, not Under Armour) shoe to a lucky kid.

And Bernard Tomic's 6-3, 6-2 3-6, 5-7, 7-5 escape of countryman Lleyton Hewitt:

Even at 33, Hewitt, who was playing his 15th and final U.S. Open, can still get some hang time.

Rusty has never been known for his effortless style or elegant movement, but he looks like he’s floating toward the net here.

Tomic, 10 years Hewitt’s junior, went his older countryman one better with this tweener. Still, as usually happens with this shot, he lost the point.

This was the first time that the two Aussies had played, and they were serenaded in properly Fanatical fashion. The Grandstand audience was ready for Hewitt to make his move, and after a slow start, he didn’t disappoint. “They like the old guy, don’t they?” Hewitt said of the Open audience. “It’s nice.”

Tomic looks like a sprightlier version of Hewitt here.

Vintage Rusty. He played his first Open in another century, in 1999, and he probably hit this shot exactly this way, with the hat turned in the same direction.

Hewitt struggled with his hip early, but everything loosened up as the match went on.

Tomic sprinted out to a two-set lead, but it didn’t last.

Hewitt’s family—wife, son, mother, father—stood and cheered one last time in New York. “For him to sit out there for five hours,” Hewitt said of his son Cruz, “it was a pretty good effort.”

But all the fight and the support wasn’t enough. In recent years, Hewitt has had a habit of coming back, grabbing a lead, and then letting it slip again. And that’s what happened in this one, as Tomic saved two match points and won the last four games for a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5 win. “It was really awkward,” Hewitt said of playing his friend. “I think it was awkward for both of us.”

Whether Tomic is ready to run with the Aussie-tennis torch or not, Hewitt is ready to pass it on. Like a good Australian sportsman, he was gone with a nod and a wave.