Andy Murray 2012 - Make Or Break

2011 has certainly been Murray's best year. Through some very bad patches, his transformation through the clay season, to now has been exceptional. Reaching all Grand Slam semi's. Working out the formula to produce performances on Clay. Ending the season as World No.3. Things have worked out fantastically for Andy. Love him or hate him you cannot deny the man has raised his game and executed his plan to perfection. Ending the year on a higher ranking, read what you may into it minus Slam success, ultimately it is hard work that has seen him achieve this.

The hard work though isn't when he is playing tournaments. It is during December. No tournaments. Look back. 2009 we all thought that Nadal was going to go into the decline. Dodgy knees. Eliminated in the group stages at the WTF. It was starting to look gloom. Then in 2010 he had his best season ever. Unbeaten on Clay. Completing the Career Slam. He really did have a fantastic year. The hard work for that success begun in close season. Made minor adjustments. Changed his work-rate so he didn't get to the Hardcourt season and blow empty fumes. He became smarter and added more power to the serve.

Novak Djokovic did similar in the close season of 2010. Yes he won the Davis Cup, but it was the minor changes he made. The diet, the self belief. What he did was commit himself to those changes when a racquet wasn't being swung. When 2011 kicked in, he won AO, Wimbledon and USO. He also had that phenominal streak. All due to the hard work and preparation in the close season and the commitment put into it.

Andy Murray is now in a similar position. I am hoping for WTF success for him. Even if he doesn't, it's not disasterous. What Andy is believing in is the Forehand and also Aggression. A tweak of the second serve to get a consistent speed would be awesome. A full time coach too. If he can get all that together and commit to it, there is no reason why he cannot win Slams in 2012. I see it as a make or break year. Yes we as fans have been there and said it year after year that better things will come the following season and so often has not been the case. But what fans cannot deny and what the neutral fan cannot deny is that this time there is something in the air. Change is on the horizon. Nadal and Federer really now by their amazingly high standards are somewhat at a crossroads of where their careers go from now on in. Murray though has to deliver in 2012. He will be 25 next year. Failure to capture that elusive Slam will become more difficult over the next coming years. This is not me heaping pressure, far from it. The improvements we have seen this year have been massive. I cannot see beyond these improvements of where else he could take his game. It makes 2012 the most important year of his career.

Here's hoping for good things in 2012.

Good article, LK.

I think 2012 will be Andy's year to shine!

legendkillar wrote:2011 has certainly been Murray's best year. Through some very bad patches, his transformation through the clay season, to now has been exceptional. Reaching all Grand Slam semi's. Working out the formula to produce performances on Clay. Ending the season as World No.3. Things have worked out fantastically for Andy. Love him or hate him you cannot deny the man has raised his game and executed his plan to perfection. Ending the year on a higher ranking, read what you may into it minus Slam success, ultimately it is hard work that has seen him achieve this.

You seem to know something I wasn't aware of. Has TMF pulled out from the Paris Master too? Otherwise how do you know he will end up fourth in the y/e ranking?

Jeremy_Kyle wrote:

legendkillar wrote:2011 has certainly been Murray's best year. Through some very bad patches, his transformation through the clay season, to now has been exceptional. Reaching all Grand Slam semi's. Working out the formula to produce performances on Clay. Ending the season as World No.3. Things have worked out fantastically for Andy. Love him or hate him you cannot deny the man has raised his game and executed his plan to perfection. Ending the year on a higher ranking, read what you may into it minus Slam success, ultimately it is hard work that has seen him achieve this.

You seem to know something I wasn't aware of. Has TMF pulled out from the Paris Master too? Otherwise how do you know he will end up fourth in the y/e ranking?

I didn't know a music channel played tennis?

Apparently Murray now joins Federer and Nadal as the only players to have won two Masters 1000s four years in a row. Here's hoping he can continue this and add a slam in 2012. I'm keeping everything crossed.

I do think there is change in the air legend, and hope very much that Andy can capitalise on this in the slams and go a couple steps better than he has in this fantastic year.

My worry about whether he can convert is his B game. He has consistently shown over the last few years that his A game is far superior to the other top 3s B game, and can stay with their A game. His B game, however, is not in the same class as the B game of TMF, Rafa or Novak, and sometimes you have to be able to scrap out a win over the big guys with your B game.

Considering the outcome of the USO for him, he has displayed a remarkable aptitude for building on his loss and taking his game up a notch to be frighteningly more competitive.

Make or break for me will be his style of play at next years AO.

He may well lose in the semi or final, but it is the standard of his tennis that will tell me if he looks like ever winning a slam. If he can play with the same controlled aggression that has seen him win a hat trick of Masters, then that final will be a lot closer than anything he has attempted so far.

And his opposition will look at him with a fresh set of eyes.

I agree there TP. I think his B game is very defensive. He showed on clay though that his B game can be attacking, altough when playing Federer, Nadal and Djokovic he may need to adjust the tactics and become more aggressive when up against it.

Jubba has nailed it on the head. I think we will see a more aggressive Murray from the off in 2012.

legendkillar wrote:I agree there TP. I think his B game is very defensive. He showed on clay though that his B game can be attacking, altough when playing Federer, Nadal and Djokovic he may need to adjust the tactics and become more aggressive when up against it.

Jubba has nailed it on the head. I think we will see a more aggressive Murray from the off in 2012.

I really hope so legend - it was good that he remained aggressive after missing painting a few lines today, and I really hope he can just get his head on right and attack from the off in 2012. It was a very good marker he put down by beating Rafa so conclusively in Tokyo - I hope he truly believes once again that he can beat Rafa over bo5 as we have seen him do magnificently in the past.

I agree 100% with what you have written. I believe that Federer will stay play a part in the slams, but I doubt he'll win another one. I think the best hope for Murray is facing Novak in a semi-final of a major and counting on Federer to do some damage to Nadal in the other semi. I honestly believe Murray is a better player than Novak. Had he won that AO final, it could well have been him having a belter of a year.

My only concern about Andy is the man known as del Potro...

I agree that Murray has a more varied game than Novak, indeed I think Nadal has a more varied game that Djokovic (and possibly even Murray actually), so there's no reason with the right tactics that wins against Novak cant be gained.

The problem in 2012 is that Nadal will likely resurge, you're going to have some other players playing better - I think Bird Itch will for a start, and then guys like Tomic and Raonic are going to be very dangerous floaters, along with JMDP. But the problem in slams is that Nadal, Djokovic and Federer have better winning minds at the highest level. After all looks at Murray's results....what other player has won 8 Masters and NO slams?! Doesnt that say something...?

I can't see why 2012 is more "make or break" than 2013 or 2014. A player has roughly a 10 year life span on the tour.

My take is that Murray will be in a position to win slams for the next 3 years of so but in my view will not have those invicibilty patches that Federer, Nadal and now Djoko have had. It doesn't look like he can take off a few levels above the rest like the other 3 did. I certainly be very surprised if he did...but for now his aim should be winning slam(s) and number 1 at some stage...that will be excellent for him in my view...more than I expected personally from his brand of tennis.

Murray has had a great three weeks and hopefully this will increase his confidence level for the future.

However I still have concerns about the mental side of Murray's game and think that what he needs to address most if he is to win a slam. In interviews this week he admitted being strangely nervous at the start of his QF and even today against Ferrer that he got tentative near the end. He can get usually get away with this against players ranked lower than him but when playing Djokovic, Nadal or Federer they will sense this and use it to their advantage. I think this is especially relevant in Slams as they have already won a number of these.

Not having won a slam must be a huge thought in his mind and the longer it goes on the bigger it will get. So yes I think 2012 is a make or break year for him.

Hopefully next year will be Murray's best. 1 or 2 slams would be sweet.

legendkillar wrote: Yes we as fans have been there and said it year after year that better things will come the following season and so often has not been the case. But what fans cannot deny and what the neutral fan cannot deny is that this time there is something in the air. Change is on the horizon. Nadal and Federer really now by their amazingly high standards are somewhat at a crossroads of where their careers go from now on in. Murray though has to deliver in 2012. He will be 25 next year. Failure to capture that elusive Slam will become more difficult over the next coming years. This is not me heaping pressure, far from it. The improvements we have seen this year have been massive. I cannot see beyond these improvements of where else he could take his game. It makes 2012 the most important year of his career.

Great article. But as I ask all those who think that 25 is the peak of a Tennis player please tell me;-

1) How come so many players have been performing at their best, age 28/29
2) If it's going to get difficult over the coming years, i.e. after 25, who suddenly going to improve their game enough to burst into the Top 4. Remember a Top 4 player has to regularly reach Masters SF's and Slam quarters plus the occasional final appearance. Even Soderlings great Spring 2009 to March 2011 only bought him about 3 weeks in this band

Basically, we grossly underrate the gap between the Top 4 and the rest. I actually think things will become easier for Murray in 2 years for 2 years, until the new youngsters catch up.

But I'm genuinely interested in who's going to be kicking Murray and Nole's butt in 3 years time - other than the usual top 10 and former slam suspects, I genuinely don't see anyone. Other than perhaps Tomic, we are overestimating the current crop of youngsters

Maybe there is some new and dynamic 16 year old, which is going to do a Becker / Mac / Nadal??

banbrotam wrote:But I'm genuinely interested in who's going to be kicking Murray and Nole's butt in 3 years time - other than the usual top 10 and former slam suspects, I genuinely don't see anyone. Other than perhaps Tomic, we are overestimating the current crop of youngsters

I agree banbrotam - just who is coming up through the ranks to threaten. The pack following the top 4 is very much exactly the same, albeit with shuffling between rankings upwards and downwards, that it has been for some considerable time. I'm not convinced by Tomic - a great Wimbledon but he has hardly caused great excitement elsewhere. Raonic looks as if he might threaten if he stays injury free, but the rest don't look like superstars at all however attractive Dimitrov's game is.

I just hope that Murray feels more urgency than that because he has been caught short by complacency before and gone out to players when he really shouldn't which seemed, for a time, to affect his confidence rather than galvanise him.

I disagree about Tomic, I think he has real talent and will toughen up physically no doubt to become a force on tour. Raonic too...but injury is a worry to him - he may be one of those guys like Phillopousis/Safin/Nalby who is always nagged by injuries. Dimitrov is abit like Gasquet to me....nice looking game but not much up top. I dare say Murray and Nole will dominate for a few years yet...they're hardly old...as we see alot of guys playing really well up to 30/31 now.

lydian wrote:I disagree about Tomic, I think he has real talent and will toughen up physically no doubt to become a force on tour. Raonic too...but injury is a worry to him - he may be one of those guys like Phillopousis/Safin/Nalby who is always nagged by injuries. Dimitrov is abit like Gasquet to me....nice looking game but not much up top. I dare say Murray and Nole will dominate for a few years yet...they're hardly old...as we see alot of guys playing really well up to 30/31 now.

Hopefully as I think both deserve to dominate for doing everything to close the gap and (in Nole's case) overtake the seemingly impregnable Fed / Rafa monopoly. Despite the evidence always showing otherwise, i think Andy sees himself as good as Nole and hence he should be at least within a few hundred points of him (like 2009) and in some respects they are a strong motivation for each other

With them two we should get a rivalry that equals at least that of Becker / Edberg, but first Andy has to start winning a Slam

lydian wrote:I disagree about Tomic, I think he has real talent and will toughen up physically no doubt to become a force on tour. Raonic too...but injury is a worry to him - he may be one of those guys like Phillopousis/Safin/Nalby who is always nagged by injuries. Dimitrov is abit like Gasquet to me....nice looking game but not much up top. I dare say Murray and Nole will dominate for a few years yet...they're hardly old...as we see alot of guys playing really well up to 30/31 now.

I think he is talented too lydian, but I wonder about his head as well - he doesn't seem to have either the real hunger/work ethic/desire all of the time. It's just too tough and competitive on the tour nowadays to succeed with that attitude - but apparently Rafter had some tough words with him recently so perhaps, if he wants it enough, he will take those on board.

I agree, not good Raonic being injured badly so young. Philopoussis was a very similar player to Raonic in many ways and he just never reached his great potential because of one injury after another.

Gulbis maybe, the ever unreliable Marin Cilic (who is only 22), Del Potro is young (although he looks about 38). I reckon if Murray can beat Nadal more regularly he'd win majors easily. Nadal is his nemesis, never mind Djokovic.

If Murray doesn't get Djokovic in his half for the AO (provided he stays number 3) are we to assume the draw is rigged? Murray was at number 4 and always got Nadal last year, so if he's at number 3 and still gets Nadal...