Is ‘Murray Mania’ madness?

It would appear that Andy Murray’s latest accomplishment’s have caught the eye of one or two of the tabloid papers…No surprises there! 

In past years the British public has always become rather excited with the ambitious hopes of a Brit lifting the trophy at Wimbledon.  ’Henmania’ captured the nation for two weeks (well actually normally only about 8 days for Tim) and we all seem to be wishing the same of our latest British hopefull.

Andy Murray, though, is a different kettle of fish.  His latest conquest at Queens was his first title on grass and having seen Djokovic lose to Tommy Haas on the surface last week, he will fancy his chances this year at SW19.  

‘Shouldn’t he be more concerned with Nadal and Federer?’  I hear you ask.  To be honest…not really, would be my answer.  Federer has been defeated by Murray on their last four encounters and Andy has seemingly learnt how to beat the former world number one (Just keep hitting to his backhand).  Rafa’s well documented injury problems have no doubt given Murray renewed optimism ahead of the most famous grass court tournament in the game.  The two have also been practising together on grass this week which will definitely be more beneficial to Andy, being able to establish how, and to what extent the injury is affecting Rafa’s game.

So, at the risk of sounding like just about every sports reporter in the country, it would appear ‘Murray Mania’ is justified…Andy Murray CAN win Wimbledon.

 

Andrew Johnson

Nadal dominates Murray

Frankly the Indian Wells final was embarassing to watch.

The wind was horrific and Murray simply couldn’t cope. However this contest certainly did not decide who is the overall better player.

This match decided who was the better player in gale force winds which was always going to be Nadal due to his technique which allows for a high margain of error.

Murray was forced to serve at 3/4 speed throughout the match as it was just impossible to apply any pace due to the fact the ball was being blown all over the shop when he threw up.

If I was in the crowd for that match I would have been so disappointed as it wasn’t very nice to watch at all. Just knowing how much the wind was effecting Murray really put a downer on the spectacle.

Unsurprisingly Murray got very angry and I can totally sympathise with him as playing in ridiculous winds is probably the most annoying thing in the world when you are losing.

Nadal seemed to cope fine with the conditions and his spinny serve held up perfectly. He did not face a single break point throughout the match. It was like a home coming for him considering he grew up playing on the wind swept coast of Mallorca.

Australian Open Review :: Verdasco

Fernando Verdasco was the surprise package of the Australian Open and I am now wondering if he can follow up this performance in the coming year.

How many players do you see who have a brilliant run in  a big tournament and then fail to bring their best form to any other event afterwards.

For example Kohlschrieber, Nieminen and Tipsarevic in the 2008 Australian Open and how about Rainer Scheuttler and Arnaud Clement at last year’s Wimbledon. 

The Spaniard, despite being a top 30 player for the last four years, has never really lit any tournament alight with only two singles titles in his career.  Two. 

The other surprising fact is that the last of his title wins came in 2004 in Valencia so to summarise he is currently ranked ninth in the world and hasn’t won a title for five years.

The one thing to Verdasco’s credit that I have noticed through looking at his results is that has delivered consistent performances reaching the last 16 and quarter finals in a number of events throughout his time on the professional circuit.

He played quite simply unbelievable tennis in Australia to beat Tsonga and Murray and then he came so close to upsetting Nadal. His shot making was at a level I had not seen before and against Nadal, although he fired around double the amount of winners, his legs would carry him no more and the more resilient (hacker!) Nadal prevailed.

For me Nadal was always going to win the final as he now has Federer’s number. The main fact being that Federer has a definite weakness in the backhand side and Nadal exploits it brilliantly. 

Federer wants to be known as the best player ever and he needs to win two more grand slam titles to prove this and I have my doubts as whether he will achieve this goal.

Andy Murray – Grand Slam Champion 2009?

Despite Andy Murray’s slightly disappointing performance at the Tennis Masters Cup, there is no doubt he has cemented his place at the top of the game and will stay there for years to come.

Murray lost out to Nikolay Davydenko in the semi-final in Shanghai after tiring himself out beating Roger Federer in an epic three-hour encounter the day before.

In previous years I have never been a massive supporter of Murray due to his erratic performances, injuries and dodgy serve. Thankfully he spent time working on his physical condition before the start of the season with rigorous fitness and weight training sessions.

As a result of some serious hard work, it all came together in the second half of the year when he proved just how gifted he is, and I am now totally behind the seriously talented Scot. I would go as far to say that he is the best player in the world at the moment as he is able to play at the highest level for longer than anyone else due to his phenomenal fitness levels.

Once he got the clay-court season out of the way there was no stopping him as he delivered a number of amazing performances, coming back to win from seemingly perilous positions. If there was a tennis dictionary, under the definition of grinder it would just read ‘Andrew Murray’.

There is absolutely no question that the turning point of Murray’s year came when he fought back from two sets down against Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon. This match had the most amazing atmosphere I have ever experienced with the crowd, for the first time, really interacting and feeding off Murray’s every move.

Read my article in full at Sportingo.com

Machine like Davydenko advances into final

I suspected Murray would be tired today and he certainly was. He was spotted looking blankly at his team in the third game after a losing a long rally.

In my previous post I wrote :: “The question is, will Murray be tired for his next match tomorrow against Nikolay Davydenko? He certainly can’t play any better than he did today and if Davydenko, who has had a day to prepare, plays as well as he did in his last match I think we could be seeing the Russian advance into the final.”

 His 3 hour marathon match with Federer was energy sapping and it showed today as he could not keep up with the barrage of quality coming from his opponent. Davydenko was simply stunning from the back of the court and Murray had no answers.

The Russian hit with such high intensity and precision and he was clearly prepared to hit forehands and backhands all day until Murray faded. He is comfortable off both wings and his shot technique is impeccable. I became a fan of ‘Davy’ after he won the Miami Masters event dominating Nadal in the final last March. Read the post here.

He isn’t as consistently good as the top four players in the world however when he’s at his best he certainly matches up with them.

He faces Djokovic in the final who has looked shaky this week. Despite the fact he lost to the Serb in the group stage I’m going to predict Davydenko will take the title.

Battling Murray sends Federer home

Andy Murray showed once again why he is the best player in the world at the moment as he fought out a 3 set victory over Roger Federer 4/6 7/6 7/5 in the Shanghai Masters Cup.

This match was fascinating from start to finish with the majority of the crowd in support of Federer. The atmosphere couldn’t have been more different for Murray when compared with the match he played against Gasquet at Wimbledon where everyone was behind him. However he didn’t seem too bothered.

The only incident where the crowd did effect Murray came in the second set where clapping could be heard every time he missed a first serve. This proved crucial as he double faulted on break point after appearing frustrated to allow Federer to break back bringing the score back to 5-4.

This just shows the world wide respect that Federer has earnt over the years during his time at the top of the mens game.

With Federer serving at 4-5 in the third, I witnessed the most spectacular service game I have ever seen. The world number two saved seven match points by playing some breathtaking tennis and then won the game which took over 15 minutes to complete. 

 I even found myself slightly wanting the Swiss master to come back from the dead and win the match after an amazing show of courage and fight to bring the contest to 5-5 despite clearly being extremely tired.

I have to say that Murray at this point with the match duration approaching 3 hours, still looked as fresh as ever and I knew there was only going to be one winner.

The question is, will Murray be tired for his next match tomorrow against Nikolay Davydenko? He certainly can’t play any better than he did today and if Davydenko, who has had a day to prepare, plays as well as he did in his last match I think we could be seeing the Russian advance into the final.

Stepanek borrows rackets and… socks!

Radek Stepanek flew into Shanghai from Thailand to replace the injured Andy Roddick only to find that all his equipment was stuck in Chinese customs. Fear not.

Fortunately Novak Djokovic was on hand to lend him some rackets and maybe not so fortunately Andy Murray lent him some socks.

 I’m just trying to imagine the moment when Murray strolled over to Stepanek, mouldy socks in hand and said in his mild Scottish accent: “Alright mate, I’ve heard you need some socks? Here you go, these are pretty good, helped me to get to the US Open final you know.”

 I wonder what could have been going through Stepaneks mind as he contemplated accepting the horrible second hand socks. I reckon he was so scared that Murray would erupt into a trademark incandescent rage that he just took them and walked off quickly to place them in the nearest washing machine. Why didn’t he just buy some from the nearest sports shop?!

This episode has lead me into to asking the following question. If you had to borrow socks from any professional tennis player who would it be?

I would definitely opt for the king of style, Roger Federer. Imagine him strutting over and giving you a pair of glistening white, perfectly preserved Nike socks presented on an marble plaque.

It was not specified what the Czech did for underwear but when considering his trademark match winning celebration is ‘the worm’ some reported that he went commando for the occasion.

Stepanek performing the worm after a victory

Unfortunately Stepanek lost his match to Federer but he did manage to take the first set into a tie break which isn’t bad when your playing with someone else’s rackets!

If you were wondering why Stepanek was selected to be an alternate as opposed to the many players ranked above him, its because they all turned the opportunity down. Poor Show.

Read the ’socks story’ here.

Murray will have to prove me wrong again

Murray played sensationally against Haas and sent out a message that he is in serious form.

The German tested Murray in the second set before the British number one upped his game in the third and fourth set.

Gasquet is another step up in class in my opinion and has been playing brilliant tennis this week.  He is one of my favourite players on tour and has the ability to hit a winner from anywhere on the court as well as having a very decent serve.

Murray will need to do some serious defending against the Frenchman who will attack from start to finish using his majestic backhand to dictate points.

If I get this wrong, Murray will have certainly proved to me and everyone he has what it takes to go all the way to the final but at the moment I think beating an on form Gasquet is a step too far for him.

Predicted Winner :: Gasquet

 

Murray vs Haas Prediction

This match will be no walk in the park for Andy Murray like his previous two rounds.

If Haas hadn’t been injured so much over the last couple of years he would be a top 10 player so his world ranking of 38 can be cast aside.

They currently have a head to head record of 1-1 with Haas winning the last encounter in March in a tight three set encounter.

The German is masterful from the back of the court and can hit winners from both wings as well as being gifted at the net. Murray as we know has a range of shots available to him also so this match will be very even.

Its difficult to pick a winner here and although I want Murray to win I think Haas could steal a win in five sets.

Predicted winner :: Haas 

 

Gasquet back on stunning form

On May 7 I wrote a post about how badly Richard Gasquet had performed in Rome against Luis Horna. It was hard to watch as he made virtually no effort in the second set against the Peruvian journeyman.

It seemed the whole of France was on his back after he refused to play in the crucial early stages of a Davis Cup match and his form suffered for weeks. This was a player in a real rut however just over a month later the real Gasquet is back.

The pressure is now off in England and the Frenchman really turned on the style against Mardy Fish. I thought he would struggle considering his recent results but he absolutely outclassed the hard hitting American in straight sets.

Fish wasn’t playing his best but Gasquet didn’t give him a chance to get going as he executed a string of flashy winners off both wings. Everyone was expecting a dip in form during the match from the French number one but it just never came and Fish could do nothing about it but look in amazement at some of shots that flew past him.

In other action today Andy Murray came through in straight sets against Fabrice Santoro as I predicted. It was a solid display from the British number one as Santoro really tested his patience by using a lot of slice.

However Murray played a near perfect match showing his class as he picked the correct moments to attack and wasn’t phased by the Frenchman’s unique style.

Here are the stats from the 22 first round matches I predicted. There were three retirements so they have been left out. In total I got 13 out of 19 correct. Read the post here.