Andy Murray Article - Needs a catchy title, and your thoughts please.

On 17th August 2009, shortly after losing the Wimbledon semi-final against Andy Roddick, Andy Murray was sat at number 2 in the ATP world rankings. In the 29 months since that date he has reached one French Open, and two Wimbledon semi-finals, along with two Australian Open Finals, yet he has failed to win a Grand Slam tournament or reach the coveted number 1 ranking spot.

The opportunities have been there for Murray, most notably this week, in the Australian Open semi-final against World Number One Novak Djokovic. With the game into a fifth set, and Djokovic serving with the score at 5-5, Murray edged himself into a 15-40 lead, giving himself two break points for the chance to serve for the match. His Serbian opponent had other ideas, winning 4 straight points on his own serve, to go 6-5 ahead, before breaking Murray's serve in the next game to win the match and progress to the final.

Now, it is no shame to lose any match against Djokovic, nor Murray's other regular opponents for Grand Slam titles, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. They are after all three of the greatest tennis players of all time. There does however come a point where the question has to be asked, why Andy Murray can not beat these guys on the biggest stages of all.

It is surely not a question of ability. In terms of the physical skills required to win tennis matches, at any level, Murray has them all. A dynamic counter puncher with excellent groundstrokes, he also has an excellent first serve, along with being a fantastic service returner, which makes it all the more surprising that he has never won either the Australian or US Open, tournaments where his skill set should be most effective, courtesy of them being played on hard courts.

Therefore, if it is not a physical thing, that can surely leave only one answer, that it is mental, and Murray has a block that causes him to freeze when on the brink of beating one of his nemesis on the biggest stage. In non Grand Slam events, Murray has bested all three of his toughest opponents, including in finals, which shows that he can do it, so what prevents him from performing on the biggest stages of all.

Perhaps there is an over emphasis on the value of the Grand Slam events by the public, and this weighs heavily on his shoulders, given that he is seen by many as the man most likely to become Britain’s first Grand Slam singles event winner since Fred Perry in 1936, some seventy-six years ago. That is a lot of pressure, and it is fair to say that Murray's predecessor as the great British hope, Tim Henman, also appeared to struggle with the weight of expectation placed upon him, in particular on home soil at Wimbledon.

The fact that Murray, in three Grand Slam final attempts, has failed to take a single set against players that he has beaten in other tournaments is a stark one. It does point to a mental fragility that he is unlikely to ever overcome, as he is now an experienced professional with a mind-set and mental attitude which is unlikely to be altered. But is that a fair assessment I ask myself? Remember, these opponents that we speak of are Federer, arguably the greatest player of all time, Nadal, a former world number one and multiple Grand Slam winner, and Djokovic, the current World Number One.

Could it be that rather than any mental block on the part of Murray, he is, despite his obvious talent, simply not as good as these opponents? For those who would argue that he has beaten them outside of the slams, I point you to the fact that Wimbledon beat Liverpool to win the 1988 FA Cup Final. The South London outfit were by no stretch of the imagination a better team than Liverpool, but they had a good 90 minutes, where their opponents were below par on the day. These things happen in sport, and so it may be the case with Murray and the three players above him in the rankings.

Perhaps the rankings are a true reflection of ability, and perhaps the best three players in the world simply do not function at 100% outside of Grand Slam events, and when they do, they are nigh on unbeatable save by one another. Perhaps on occasion, as Wimbledon did against Liverpool, Murray, and others may raise their performance level above its usual ceiling, and beat an opponent who is a better player.

I suppose the question about Murray's mental fortitude and temperament will always be there now, even if he does win a Grand Slam event, as once a label is attached to a sportsman, it is very hard to shake off, even when evidence suggests that it may be incorrect. For what it's worth, having looked into the playing history of the man in order to write this article, my own conclusion is that actually, he may just be unlucky. He is playing in an era where there are three all-time greats for him to contend with, along with numerous other very good players such as Ferrer, Tsonga and del Potro, and opportunities to win Grand Slams are limited. To win one it all has to come together for you at the right time, and with such competition, that will never be easy.

British when he is winning and Scottish to the masses when he loses, Murray will always divide opinion, but he is a talented tennis player, who is clearly working hard at his game. That being the case, this writer for one hopes that at either the 16th arrondissement of Paris, SW19 or ZIP code 98,609 later this year, Murray is being described by all as British, and hopefully laying any demons that he may have about Grand Slam events to rest.

How about "Murray Magic or Murray Mints- who is the real Andy Murray?" Good read by the way.

Have just read through myself and seen the multitude of typos. Will correct them when back on the computer.

"Is Murray Mint or Murray Mince?"

Damn you Hobo and your title skills.

Ok, typos corrected, what do we reckon, good to go?

As soon as this gets the nod from someone as being ok to go, it will be my first ever posting in the tennis section, hope they go easy on me there!!!

Britain’s first Grand Slam singles event winner since Fred Perry in 1936, some seventy-two years ago

Maths not your strong point is it

they are nigh on unbeatable save by another one of them

"by one another" sounds better IMO.

Good article though

Adam D wrote:

Britain’s first Grand Slam singles event winner since Fred Perry in 1936, some seventy-two years ago

Maths not your strong point is it

good spot, it's been a tough weekend!!!

Amendments made.

Going to stick it on the forum now.