DanNolan
Well-Known Member
- Oct 14, 2006
- 1,369
- 2,524
For years the career of Andy Murray was reminiscent of the many British players before him, who fell short of the big time and will be remembered as what if stories; The new reality for Murray is that he has finally banished the monkey off his back and is set to walk the road entitled “what now”? His fantastic end to the 2012 season in which he was a finalist at Wimbledon before returning to triumph at the London Olympics and add a first major title in the US open, has elevated Murray to a new standing in the game. No longer sneered at or labelled a choke artist by fans and cynics alike, Murray has proven his worth and taken his place at the elite table in tennis. Many may think that the hard work is now over and that the trophies will now continue to flow with little to no improvement needed however they would be well informed to see the careers of Marat Safin, or more recently Juan Del Potro or Jo Wilfred Tsonga. When tipped to be on the cusp of greatness following their initial major victories, both have failed to come close to winning further major titles, or even challenge the worlds top 4 players in all honesty. It is what happens from now which will determine whether Murray goes down as a good player or an all time great, rather than see this as the end of his journey it is his time to use this as just the beginning.
In the past fortnight his quest to become the worlds number one player could not have started more positively, with Murray not dropping a single set on his way to a repeat of the Wimbledon final he lost in emotional circumstances just months ago. There was to be no repeat of that day however, this is a new Andy Murray. One who not only believes he can win major titles for years to come, but one who expects to with a casual arrogance in his own ability which is refreshing from the self doubting “bridesmaid” of the past few years. Murray, unlike past British players such as Henman and Rusedski, has always possessed the all round game and natural talent to win major titles; it has always been the opinion of those with a high standing within the game that the reason he hadn't was purely mental.
The new-found confidence since winning the open is obvious in Murray. The difference is one that can be analysed when looking at media coverage that surrounds him. In the past when he used to struggle to win the press used to analyse in much detail the weaknesses that lost him his games, focussing on what he must do to win a major. The difference now is that now that he has achieved a major title, the press are much more likely to talk about the plus point in Andy's game and the reasons that he should be winning the points. While this may seem obvious to a point, the difference this seems to have made to Murray's game is astonishing. Rather than worry about what is wrong with his game and defend against the top players' strengths in order to try to scrape a major victory through attrition he has a new found belief in his own merits and ability. This has enabled him to stamp his authority the game and dictate how he wants the game to be played, further allowing him to be creative and force his own style on them. This is paying dividends now and will do in the long run. Murray plays as if he expects to win every point and rather than relying purely on his incredible defensive skills and forcing his opponents to make mistakes, he believes in his ability to hit winners and build pressure.
The progress made even since his recent triumph at the US open could not have been more apparent than in his semi final 5 set victory against Roger Federer on Friday. It is evident that in the past few seasons with first Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and more recently now Murray's game, Roger Federer has to play at the top of his game in order to beat the younger and more powerful trio. The much heralded “greatest player ever” is an artist on the court, his game based around hitting the lines and the pursuit of perfection rather than pure power and serving. His problem being that now with his advancing years if Roger Federer's game is any less than 95% he struggles to live with the very best whereas in the past in his average game was easily good enough to be 99% of the players on tour.
In the semi final there was a point in the second set which best summed this up, there was a reversal of roles in the student teacher relationship in that Federer resorted to playing drop shots very much like Murray would have done in the past when bereft of ideas and in need of a rest during points. This highlighted the fact that Roger was looking for new ways to win a point due to not being able to live with the dominance of Murray's game. The game while close on the scoreboard was in actuality a mismatch in as much as Murray never looked in trouble and lost sets only due to inability to close out sets or overcome Federer's immaculate record in tie breaks. Murray managed to hit more winners in the match than Federer which, when identifying that Federer's style of play is based around hitting unreturned winners rather than defence or power wearing opponents down, is quite remarkable. The fact that Murray managed to record six games in every set and have his serve broken just once in the whole match shows just how far he has come; it was mere months ago that Murray went into the Wimbledon final (his fourth major final) having never managed to win even a set in a final before.
The hope is that now in the future Murray's game will continue to flourish as he fulfils the potential his talent deserves. The difference between him and a lot of the players that have come through in the last 10 years are that he is able to play every different shot and isn't reliant on one way of playing any longer. The advantage is that whereas Murray used to play a style which was based around making sure the better player dropped his level to Andy Murray's level, Murray now dictates the tempo and makes the game whatever style he chooses, this bares all the hallmarks of a future great champion.
The frightening thing for Murray's opponents is that since hiring Ivan Lendl it seems that each year that goes past he improves one major facet of his game. This year he seems already just in one tournament to have evidently raised both the pace and consistency in control of his first serve. In addition his second serve while still not the best in the game, seems to have more variety. When coupled with the fact that Murray is also more confident in winning long valleys from the back of the courts, this can only be dangerous for other players that are searching for a plan to beat him. It is important not to get carried away by Murray's improvements as the reality is that he is playing in what I consider the greatest era of players ever, and even at his very best he will struggle to overcome the extraordinary Novak Djokovic or the great champion Rafa Nadal returning from injury. It is a reality however that Murray has finally made it up to their level and that the future years will be full of amazing matches between what now are four great champions currently residing at the top of the men's game.
In the past fortnight his quest to become the worlds number one player could not have started more positively, with Murray not dropping a single set on his way to a repeat of the Wimbledon final he lost in emotional circumstances just months ago. There was to be no repeat of that day however, this is a new Andy Murray. One who not only believes he can win major titles for years to come, but one who expects to with a casual arrogance in his own ability which is refreshing from the self doubting “bridesmaid” of the past few years. Murray, unlike past British players such as Henman and Rusedski, has always possessed the all round game and natural talent to win major titles; it has always been the opinion of those with a high standing within the game that the reason he hadn't was purely mental.
The new-found confidence since winning the open is obvious in Murray. The difference is one that can be analysed when looking at media coverage that surrounds him. In the past when he used to struggle to win the press used to analyse in much detail the weaknesses that lost him his games, focussing on what he must do to win a major. The difference now is that now that he has achieved a major title, the press are much more likely to talk about the plus point in Andy's game and the reasons that he should be winning the points. While this may seem obvious to a point, the difference this seems to have made to Murray's game is astonishing. Rather than worry about what is wrong with his game and defend against the top players' strengths in order to try to scrape a major victory through attrition he has a new found belief in his own merits and ability. This has enabled him to stamp his authority the game and dictate how he wants the game to be played, further allowing him to be creative and force his own style on them. This is paying dividends now and will do in the long run. Murray plays as if he expects to win every point and rather than relying purely on his incredible defensive skills and forcing his opponents to make mistakes, he believes in his ability to hit winners and build pressure.
The progress made even since his recent triumph at the US open could not have been more apparent than in his semi final 5 set victory against Roger Federer on Friday. It is evident that in the past few seasons with first Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and more recently now Murray's game, Roger Federer has to play at the top of his game in order to beat the younger and more powerful trio. The much heralded “greatest player ever” is an artist on the court, his game based around hitting the lines and the pursuit of perfection rather than pure power and serving. His problem being that now with his advancing years if Roger Federer's game is any less than 95% he struggles to live with the very best whereas in the past in his average game was easily good enough to be 99% of the players on tour.
In the semi final there was a point in the second set which best summed this up, there was a reversal of roles in the student teacher relationship in that Federer resorted to playing drop shots very much like Murray would have done in the past when bereft of ideas and in need of a rest during points. This highlighted the fact that Roger was looking for new ways to win a point due to not being able to live with the dominance of Murray's game. The game while close on the scoreboard was in actuality a mismatch in as much as Murray never looked in trouble and lost sets only due to inability to close out sets or overcome Federer's immaculate record in tie breaks. Murray managed to hit more winners in the match than Federer which, when identifying that Federer's style of play is based around hitting unreturned winners rather than defence or power wearing opponents down, is quite remarkable. The fact that Murray managed to record six games in every set and have his serve broken just once in the whole match shows just how far he has come; it was mere months ago that Murray went into the Wimbledon final (his fourth major final) having never managed to win even a set in a final before.
The hope is that now in the future Murray's game will continue to flourish as he fulfils the potential his talent deserves. The difference between him and a lot of the players that have come through in the last 10 years are that he is able to play every different shot and isn't reliant on one way of playing any longer. The advantage is that whereas Murray used to play a style which was based around making sure the better player dropped his level to Andy Murray's level, Murray now dictates the tempo and makes the game whatever style he chooses, this bares all the hallmarks of a future great champion.
The frightening thing for Murray's opponents is that since hiring Ivan Lendl it seems that each year that goes past he improves one major facet of his game. This year he seems already just in one tournament to have evidently raised both the pace and consistency in control of his first serve. In addition his second serve while still not the best in the game, seems to have more variety. When coupled with the fact that Murray is also more confident in winning long valleys from the back of the courts, this can only be dangerous for other players that are searching for a plan to beat him. It is important not to get carried away by Murray's improvements as the reality is that he is playing in what I consider the greatest era of players ever, and even at his very best he will struggle to overcome the extraordinary Novak Djokovic or the great champion Rafa Nadal returning from injury. It is a reality however that Murray has finally made it up to their level and that the future years will be full of amazing matches between what now are four great champions currently residing at the top of the men's game.
