Murrays journey back to the top: Will this comeback story have the happiest ending?

It is often said that the hard work in a grand slam tournament is that done in the journey to the final, and that when you reach the final the hard work is complete and it is time to relax and enjoy the game. This may not apply to Andy Murray this year as although he has had a wonderful run to the final, this will be his fourth Australian open final and he is yet to taste of victory. If he loses his fourth final at the Australian open, he will be a club all on his own of those who have managed to lose for finals in a row at the same grand slam, a title that would not sit well with the scot. It has been a turbulent past year for Andy Murray in dealing with the changing of his coach, a terrible debilitating back injury which plummeted him out of the world’s top 10. This just one year after becoming Olympic, US and Wimbledon champion. At a time when everything seemed to be progressing at a stunning rate, with Andy Murray at the top of his game challenging to be world number one, his form dropped and his back injury cost him the chance to relish competing for world number one status.

Murray lets out an almighty roar in a very personal encounter against Berdych, his game was too good for the U.S. open champion in every department

This year he has returned full of vigour and his game seems to be approaching the peak of its powers. Many wondered if Murray could ever reach such heights again. He had been written off by all quarters of the press; there was criticism over his choices both in life and with his new coach Mauresmo. This week he has proved them wrong, and has the rediscovered the game to challenge for more titles moving forwards.

Murray has lost just two sets on the way to the final, and on the way he has been able to banish many personal Demons from the last year. He started well knocking out opponents without dropping a set, until he came up to the man who demolished his game at Wimbledon last year, Dimitrov.  This was a game in which Murray could prove to the world how far he has come back in six months following his back injury having finally cleared up. The marked change in his game in his aggression, stronger serve and movement returned to the foundations on which much of his success under Ivan Lendl was built. Murray came through the test with flying colours despatching of Dimitrov with relative ease in four sets. This gave him a new confidence and you could see the swagger return in his game, a realisation of his restoration to his ‘A game’ and a renewed fear struck into opponents facing him. Next came the big Australian home hope Kyrgios, another of the upcoming talents in the world tennis sure to be challenging in future slams, an incredible athlete and future champion. As in the previous round, Murray’s game was far too sophisticated and varied for the young pretender to deal with and he duly dispatched him in straight sets.

It has been a struggle for Murray in the last 12 months to dispatch those players within the top eight of the world rankings, the players that he used to beat regularly at the business end of events. One of these Thomas Berdych won the last grand slam in the US open, beating great players on the way. This trend hasn’t changed in this tournament as he dispatched of a below par Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals in straight sets with a truly magnificent performance. The pressure was turned up a notch in the semi final with Thomas having recently joined forces with Murrays ex coach. This inspired Murray more if anything, into a performance full of determination, grit and world class quality. Murray was at his majestic fist pumping best pulling Berdych around the court, toying with him in the last three sets and as a result now finds himself in the  final. After a year of ups and downs Andy Murray enters the Australian open final to meet old adversary Novak Djokovic, the man who often stands between him and his dreams. It will take a monumental effort from Andy to put down the world number one, but one thing is for sure and that is that Murray is back at the top of the sport ready to challenge for top honours once again.

A year ago he lost that the aggressive nature and unbelievable fitness that has made Andy Murray one of the most difficult players to play on tour; it has been said by the worlds greatest tennis players that he is a nightmare to play against and is one of the very best returners ever seen in the game, often making returns from seemingly impossible situations. What he has added to his game this year is improved speed and sharpness while regaining his power and serve accuracy, enabling him to dictate points rather than trying to wear opponents down sapping his energy at an alarming rate. Murray is unique in that he is so naturally talented that he can adapt his game to counter any style, this is an ability that most will have no answer to, striking fear into the entire men’s tour moving forward.

If Murray can continue to develop his game in this way, he has a chance to win even more silverware and be one of the most decorated tennis players of all time. If he manages to prevail on Sunday morning, it will be one of the great comeback stories of recent times after he looked down and out for a year while playing in what is described often as the most talented era of tennis players of all time. This is the time for Murray to reach the very top and stay there, assisted by the endless injuries suffered by Nadal, and the eventual demise of Roger Federer as a top four player sure to come in the next few years. There are some young pretenders snapping at the heels of the once established big 4, if Murray can keep his game at the high level that he has rediscovered this week there is no reason he cannot reach the goal of becoming the top player in the world as he is always dreamed. Confidence is vital, and a victory on Sunday will go a long way in propelling Murray back to the very top of the game.

New Season: Same Old Face

Following a sensational year in which James Dasaolu realised one of his dreams and became European champion, he made a strong start to the indoor season finishing second credited with the same time as winner Kim Collins in 6.52. In what is a monumental year in athletics with the Rio Olympics now just one year away, and the world Championships taking place this summer, it is important that the athletes plan their seasons correctly in order to peak at the prime-time. James Dasaolu seems to enjoy competing in the indoor season but has a tendency to pick up muscular injuries, so any indoor season in which he stays clean from injury should be seen as a success with bigger prizes up for grabs later in the summer. Dasaolu is certainly improving year-on-year and may be ready to finally challenge on the world stage in 2015. After now being sub 10 numerous times, he will be hoping to enter the elite group of sprinters vying for medals at these world Championships. However while he has steadily improved, he will need a big upturn in performance in order to challenge the very top with the Jamaicans and Americans likely to have been in training cycles based on peaking this year after a year off of major championships for them. In appearance terms Dasaolu looked notably more muscular and seems to have hit the gym quite hard this summer. He is at the age now whereas he will have developed to start achieving his peak performance and body composition at the age of 27. While he didn’t win the race, 6.52 is a very good time by anyone’s standards especially this early in the season so he will be very impressed with his own performance while he still lacks sharpness at this early stage.

Dasaolu was victorious at the 2014 European Championships, Facing the Jamaican and United States athletes will be a huge step up at the World Championships

While Dasaolu begins to reach his peak age, the standout story of the event in world terms is the incredible Kim Collins who defies the ageing process and ran 6.52 with his dip edging the race from James Dasaoulu on the line. While approaching the age of 40 years Kim Collins is a phenomenon in the athletic terms and seems to maintain his form with every year. His rangy fluent style in which he seems to float up the track doesn’t rely on power like many of the other athletes at the very top of the sport, therefore he seems to be able to maintain a level of performance that many dream of even at the age of 38. In 11 years since winning world championship gold in Paris, Kim Collins has continued to add to his catalogue of medals and while he no longer can compete on the world stage in 100 m to quite the ability that he used to, he is still a force indoors as shown by this result. Needless to say that the two athletes achieved a world leading time with this being such an early season meet, but their performances at Düsseldorf can be seen as a massive positive for both men, setting up an intriguing battle progressing forward into the indoor season. While the field wasn’t stacked with world class quality Mike Rogers of the USA who is very much an indoor specialist and was beaten down to 3rd in 6.58; he is a very strong scalp to have taken so early in the season.

There was British interest elsewhere in the event with a great start to the year for the forgotten great hurdling hope Lawrence Clarke. After showing so much potential early in his career in the 110 m hurdles by achieving fourth place at the 2012 London Olympics, Lawrence Clark has flattered as the deceive ever since and has been plagued by injuries meaning that he has never reached anywhere near his full potential. He took a big scalp in Robles from Cuba, a former Olympic champion, and ran a personal-best in 7.63. He will hope that this year is the year that he finally stays injury free and makes a strong impression at the major championships alongside other British hope William Sharman. The 110 m hurdles is always an open event in which surprises happen quite regularly due to the technical nature of the event; if you’re in the final and you manage to get in the mix there’s always an outside chance of a medal and that’s what the British guys will be hoping for this year. Clarke, who is coached by Malcolm Arnold, the ex coach to former world, Olympic and world record holder Colin Jackson, clearly has the talent to succeed and at only 24 years old has plenty of time left. He will try to use this personal best season opener as a catalyst to jump start his career.

Clarke finished fourth at his home Olympics 2012, but has failed to push on since.