Age myth dispelled

First topic message reminder :

For some time now we've heard that the reason there are no young players pressurising the top guys is that tennis now demands so much fitness that it is beyond the under 22's.

Now we know that was wrong. In fact, there's just been no good young players and this period has been the weaker for it, with players like Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, etc. flattered in recent years by a dearth of quality coming through.

Hopefully young Kyrgios can go on from here, but in beating a fully fit, highly motivated Nadal in a match of great importance he's shown that all it takes is quality, not age.

Oh he's lost the plot I agree but the question is...WHY...!?

Who knows.

It says a lot when your opponent comes out and says he had him beat in the warm up! :shocked:

He must have noticed the way Murray was reacting to missed shots or poor movement in the warm up is all I can think. Either way Murray's poor body language gave his opponent confidence before the match even started so surely a lesson learnt there...Lendl would have been furious and that's the difference now he's reverting back to the naturally negative Murray again without a force like Lendl steering him. Can't see Maursemo getting him into the same mindset Lendl did...and I wonder if she realised that too watching him yesterday...it's a huge task for anyone to turn Murrays ship around now. You feel this is now Murray's first major career test...

lydian wrote:He must have noticed the way Murray was reacting to missed shots or poor movement in the warm up is all I can think. Either way Murray's poor body language gave his opponent confidence before the match even started so surely a lesson learnt there...Lendl would have been furious and that's the difference now he's reverting back to the naturally negative Murray again without a force like Lendl steering him. Can't see Maursemo getting him into the same mindset Lendl did...and I wonder if she realised that too watching him yesterday...it's a huge task for anyone to turn Murrays ship around now. You feel this is now Murray's first major career test...

I'd say second. The first was breaking his duck and winning a major. If he continues to have a poor season, even after the long break before the second American hard court swing of the year, he should really contemplate how he wants to go forward. If he fails to make the 02 then he has to go away, get better and come back raring to go. If he does make 02 but fails spectacularly then maybe he should think about an early retirement. I might live longer if he does. (I was   in 2005, now I am more   ).

Murray - praps alone among the big four - has these really awful matches from time to time. OK, it's disappointing, but did many REALLY believe he was going to win Wimbledon this year?
Remarkably, given the pressure, neither Henman nor Murray ever made an early exit from Wimbledon. Andy has no points to defend at the end of the season - a time he normally does well. I'm still confident he will make the top eight come the 02, although he could do with Fed and Djoko winning their semis tomorrow to deny the young guns the really big points.