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.

What next for Murray after being brought down to earth by young pretender?

Murray ponders his crushing defeat in the Wimbledon Quarter finals.

British fans swarmed to Centre Court this past Wednesday in expectant mood at the chances of a repeat of Murray’s heroics of a year previous; In the quarter-final that took place, Andy Murray’ s Wimbledon title defence came to an end with a whimper. The joys of last year’s victory that were still being felt in each corner of Britain, were truly extinguished in what can only be described as a disaster of a performance against a talented youngster making his bow of the grandest of stages. Unfortunately Murray’s game this year was never in danger of coming even close to the heights reached in an exhilarating run last year. While those who tune in solely for the traditional two weeks of Wimbledon each year may have seen this as a huge shock, those who closely follow the game would concede that there has been an air of inevitability, laced with warning signs since Andy’s return from injury earlier this year.

There are a plethora of areas of his game that looked uneasily weaker than a year ago, none more than his mental state, comfort and belief in his own ability. In just a short year Murray seems to have lost the confidence that made him a deserving champion, when beating one of the all time greats and newly crowned champion Novak Djokovic to realise his dream. Not only did Murray look a shadow of the character that roared to victory, home crowd in tow 12 months ago; it was his distinct lack of confidence in his game and trust in his ability to attack that was most evident. Rather than impose his game upon the young pretender and number 11 seed Dimitrov, he let the confident emerging talent dominate from the back of the court, playing the game that best served him to deliver a crushing upset. Dimitrov out muscled Murray in all aspects of the game and and played like the player that had two Major titles to his name, rather than his opponent.

At a time that those players at the very height of the mens’ game have taken Andy’s lead and hired ex champions as new coaches to further home their skills, adding that crucial extra 5% to their game needed in order to stay at the top; Murray seems to have deteriorated badly since losing his distinguished coach Ivan Lendl. He seems to have already lost the confidence in his own ability to be one of the greatest players in the world, since his break up with Lendl early this year. Since reaching the elite level of the worlds top ten, Murray has always been a competitive player near the top of the rankings;   It was under the supervision of Lendl, that Murray really came into his own as a feared player on the tour who would challenge for top honours. Under his regime Murray’s mentality shifted to one of a champion, worrying not at the thought of nullifying the oppositions” strengths but finally imposing his own talents upon the opposition. After a combination of injuries and without his biggest ally in the coaches box, Murray has struggled all season when playing games at the very top level.

In terms of technique an area of his performance that was very much lacking was with his serve. In his exit Murray’s serving can best be described as average to poor with particular weakness of his second serve rightfully exposed by the fearless Bulgarian. If Murray is to beat any of the players at the top level in the modern game, he must have a service which is both solid and which wins him points at key moments in the pressure cooker of big games. With that said, it can be argued that just last week in the earlier rounds the serve was firing very well and was encouraging to say the least. Unfortunately this often has no bearing of how it  performs while under intense pressure against the elite. It’s all well and good to serve well when you know that you clearly enjoy a noticeable skill advantage over the opposition, and can therefore make up for weak serving with your all around game. The true test of a good serve is serving while under pressure, in those points that you need to serve well to relieve the pressure on your own game. This clearly was not the case in his quarter-final defeat and as a result Murray was helpless on Sunday relinquishing his crown from the comfort of his own sofa.

It is a fair observation that unfortunately Murray, with all the upheaval in the past 12 months, has reverted to the player that he was before winning a grand slam. A more defensive player eager to do just do enough to grind out victories by playing on the counter attack and counting on his athletic ability to wear opponents down. While still managing to win the majority of his games on tour, he will struggle to beat the top players with these tactics, and more so to win the major trophies. Until Murray is able to address this, rebalance his game and his psyche; he will struggle to climb back to the extreme heights that he once reached. Hopefully his new coach Amelie Mauresmo will be able to address this, although early signs seem negative. While Murray played very poorly by his own standards, Dimitrov was absolutely unbelievably good, and later pushed Djokovic all the way in their semi final match up. It is no surprise to those in the game that he is finally fulfilling the great potential which had him nicknamed little Federer as a junior; he has the game to challenge the best, though it has taken longer than expected for him to reach this level.

Dimitrov looks the pick of a new generation already snapping at the heels of the top players. He was dominant and powerful throughout, losing out to eventual champion Djokovic in a strong performance.

Dimitrov is part of a new crop of youngsters with Kyrgios and Raonic taking Wimbledon by storm this year with their fearless victories over great players, in addition there are such others as Tomic, Busta and Vesely to watch out for in the near future. Eventually this could be a changing of the guard in the game, as illustrated already by events taking place this week at Wimbledon. While it is too early to write of any of the Big four who have dominated the grand slams in recent times, particularly after a majestic final between Djokovic and a reinvigorated Federer on Sunday; it certainly promises to be an exciting few years with the new breed of superstars coming through creating perhaps a new era.

With every generation of new players comes a new added strength, height and hunger to be the very best the world has ever seen. While that this generation of players including Murray, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic has been absolutely unbelievable in terms of quality, the new crop are likely to be just as good. It will be fascinating to see how the great champions currently residing at the top of the rankings manage the new challenges that lie ahead, but one thing that is most evident from this week is that Murray has dropped back into the chasing pack. Fortunately for Murray he has shown in the past that he possesses the game to return to the top; unfortunately for him the players around him have all improved so a monumental challenge awaits. Murray has always been at his best as the battling underdog so it will be exciting to watch what he does next.

 

Murray: On the edge of Greatness?

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 world's 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 mental anguish of yet another major final loss brought Murray to tears

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.

Federer had no answer to Murray’s all round game, uttering obscenities and showing frustration like never 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 irregardless of whether he is successful in the final on Sunday,he is playing in what many consider the greatest era of players ever, and even at his very best he will often 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.