What If Andy Had Lost?

Many thought this US Open was Andy M's best chance of a slam title. With no Rafa around and with Fed being beaten by Berdych this was the Scot's moment.
But what if he had lost after being two sets up ? Could he have recovered from such a devastating loss? It would have been very tough for him to take a defeat like that. His behaviour at the end was tempered by relief as much as exhaustion.
Good to see so many people coming on this site to express their views/delight/support/ for Andy. Spose most of us never thought we'd ever see a British men's GS win, although Murray looked as likely to do it as anybody.
But, no, I'm not changing my name to SirAndyMurray.

If Andy had lost, LK would not have to have produced an article saying he was proven wrong

HE would feature slightly more prominently on these boards today?

Sir Fred I feel the consequences would have been devastating. Even Greg Rusedski was losing his confidence in a Murray win when the 4th set went AWOL.

He would have to have explained how he threw away his best ever chance to win from such a strong position. Thankfully for Andy and his entourage no such inquest is necessary and no that perennial question of when he was going to win his first slam has been answered maybe,, just maybe, a couple more are just round the corner.

Newballs. Sometimes it's the fear of defeat that spurs you on to victory. Gawd knows what mental agonies players go through during a long match. It's a lonely business out there, even if you do have thousands screaming you on.
I just wonder just how many times Andy had played out in his head the sequence of serving out for a GS title? Was it the sort of thing he did in his back garden as a kid? Perhaps we've all done it in our imagination; now he's done it for real.

Even if he'd lost it would still have been a good year reaching the final of Wimby, Olympic Gold and Silver medal winner plus being USO finalist.

Also you could have still looked at his improvement as a player i.e. he's far more aggressive off the forehand side and far tougher mentally. This was pointed out by Novak in the press conference after the final.

If he'd lost that fifth set then I may finally have lost that belief that he'd win at least one slam.

During his toilet break at the end of the 4th he apparently said to himself "just go for it" and he was really aggressive in Novak's first 2 service games. It was pleasing to hear that he realised he had to go and get it, rather than wait for it to come to him.

Danny_1982 wrote:...During his toilet break at the end of the 4th he apparently said to himself "just go for it" ...

Please, that's just too much information ...

Nore Staat wrote:

Danny_1982 wrote:...During his toilet break at the end of the 4th he apparently said to himself "just go for it" ...

Please, that's just too much information ...

Famous quote "There is always a next time son" .

One of the reason why Andy succeded is the way he looked at improving than results, this what Lendl spoke about as well in interview with Mats, Lendl asked Murray to focus on improving the game more than results and results to follow once the game improves.

No idea whether Lendl's improved Murray's game but his presence really broke the curse of losing GS.

carrieg4 wrote:

Nore Staat wrote:

Danny_1982 wrote:...During his toilet break at the end of the 4th he apparently said to himself "just go for it" ...

Please, that's just too much information ...

He had to push really hard, but eventually he delivered.

Danny_1982 wrote:

carrieg4 wrote:

Nore Staat wrote:

Danny_1982 wrote:...During his toilet break at the end of the 4th he apparently said to himself "just go for it" ...

Please, that's just too much information ...

He had to push really hard, but eventually he delivered.

Scary mental images - not enough vodka in the world to erase them (I'll give it a good go though )

Are we talking no. 1 or no. 2 here?

Looks like he might just have spent a penny and hit the jackpot.

What If Andy Had Lost?
--------------------------------
Craig would get himself banned after hawkeye's told you so articles.

Danny_1982 wrote:

carrieg4 wrote:

Nore Staat wrote:

Danny_1982 wrote:...During his toilet break at the end of the 4th he apparently said to himself "just go for it" ...

Please, that's just too much information ...

He had to push really hard, but eventually he delivered.

He'd avoided trouble wth dangerous floaters throughout the tournament.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:What If Andy Had Lost?
--------------------------------
Craig would get himself banned after hawkeye's told you so articles.

He wouldn't be the only one

carrieg4 wrote:

Josiah Maiestas wrote:What If Andy Had Lost?
--------------------------------
Craig would get himself banned after hawkeye's told you so articles.

He wouldn't be the only one

I would have never made a comeback either.

invisiblecoolers wrote:

carrieg4 wrote:

Josiah Maiestas wrote:What If Andy Had Lost?
--------------------------------
Craig would get himself banned after hawkeye's told you so articles.

He wouldn't be the only one

I would have never made a comeback either.

Good job he won then!

bogbrush wrote:

Danny_1982 wrote:

carrieg4 wrote:

Nore Staat wrote:

Danny_1982 wrote:...During his toilet break at the end of the 4th he apparently said to himself "just go for it" ...

Please, that's just too much information ...

He had to push really hard, but eventually he delivered.

He'd avoided trouble wth dangerous floaters throughout the tournament.

He looked a little flushed afterwards.

LK2 would have to be handed even more valium as his annoyance at the incompetent Scot, boiled over

Interesting take on that 5th set of the final on the ATP site today where, in a very measured piece, the guy explains how Murray's serve held up so well in the last set and how well it was directed.
Nole, in contrast, did not serve so well at the end. Praps some can remember the final set of the 07 Wimbledon final between Rog and Rafa when Rog won 6-2 after a right old ding-dong struggle. Possibly Nole was as worn out in New York as Rafa was at Wimbledon. If you watch that final set at SW19 you'll find that Rafa rarely got a first serve in on big points, while Rog was banging down aces.
Toilet humour aside, it seems that the bog break certainly helped Andy.

banbrotam wrote:LK2 would have to be handed even more valium as his annoyance at the incompetent Scot, boiled over

Believe it or not had Murray lost I wouldn't have actually blown a fuse. I was impressed with his on court attitude and his tactics. I am amazed to read elsewhere that people felt he was too passive given the amount of flat shots he actually hit in the whole match.

bogbrush wrote:

Danny_1982 wrote:

carrieg4 wrote:

Nore Staat wrote:

Danny_1982 wrote:...During his toilet break at the end of the 4th he apparently said to himself "just go for it" ...

Please, that's just too much information ...

He had to push really hard, but eventually he delivered.

He'd avoided trouble wth dangerous floaters throughout the tournament.

Difficult to do, I'd think, at Flushing Meadows.

(that was a Joke my Dad cracked when we watched Connors beat Lendl in the 1982 or 1983 USO final - Connors had to go off for a bogbreak and Dad was chuffed to bits to note that this happened at Flushing Meadows.)

I think that if Andy had lost, Novak would have won. I am fairly sure of this.

controversial TA, very controversial...