An Early Epitaph for Andy Murray

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As this year enters its final few months it has been surely Andy's worst season since he became a real contender in the sport. Only one title and that was only an ATP250 and alarming losses in alarming circumstances has seen Andy slip out of the top ten in the world and facing an uphill battle to reach London for the World Finals at the end of the season. His inconsistency and low confidence is a concern and I am left to muse that Andy may never recover former glories of slam wins so find myself assessing where he now stands in the list of tennis greats.

Well he has won two slams, an Olympic Gold medal and do believe he is one of only ten men in the Open Era to have reached each slam semi-finals at least twice. He has won 30 career title (two of which are slams) and that puts him alongside the likes of Lleyton Hewitt (30 titles 2 slams) and Goran Ivanisevic (31 titles 1 slam).

If this is the beginning of the end then at least Andy can hold claim to breaking the male British slam singles hoodoo and become the best player this country has produced since Fred Perry. You can't help but feel he has under-achieved but would put that down to mental flaws and if he had directed his strengths into more positive areas more could have been achieved.

I do hope I am proven wrong by the way but I don't like the signs.

A sadly all-too-typical start to Murray's match with Anderson. Andy breaks straight away and then is immediately broken himself. Just how many times has that happened in recent weeks?

I think he's been quite unfortunate in his career. His slam finals were mostly against opponents who played some inspired tennis - nobody was beating Novak at AO'11, or Federer at US'08. And even after the painful 2010 loss, where he played brilliantly but still got sent packing in straights, he went away and just got better rather than dwelling on it too much.

I'd agree in principle with BB's point that he went too far down the physical route, but in some ways I'm glad that he did...and I don't believe he'd have necessarily won slams without doing so. But look away from the slams and his clay court record, and you'll see an excellent career at the top level. He's capable of wonderful tennis, but never quite had the iron mentality and confidence for sustained periods that all true greats need. Murray's far from a mental midget, but he's not Rafa either.

That being said, I'm surprised at the number of people saying he could've won as many slams as Novak - I strongly disagree. Andy is a fantastic player but Novak is a legend of the game and far more suited to it both physically and mentally. I honestly think there's very little difference between Djokovic and Fedal in terms of ability, whereas Murray lags behind slightly.

I dislike the media that surrounds him, but I greatly respect the man and think he has more to offer as well. Top player.

Henman Bill wrote:People commenting that he's done for slams as if it's fact!, so short sighted, I predict further multiple slams for Murray and to get to number 1 for at least one week before he retires. Let's revisit this thread in 2 years.

Time to revisit this thread as promised so I can gloat about my superior prediction above from October 2014 we can look at how far Murray's come in the last couple years, at which time he was being written off. Page 1 is interesting.

He has only won one slam since my prediction that he will get multiple slams, however I think that prediction looks good, he only needs one more before he retires.

Henman Bill wrote:

Henman Bill wrote:People commenting that he's done for slams as if it's fact!, so short sighted, I predict further multiple slams for Murray and to get to number 1 for at least one week before he retires. Let's revisit this thread in 2 years.

Time to revisit this thread as promised so I can gloat about my superior prediction above from October 2014 we can look at how far Murray's come in the last couple years, at which time he was being written off. Page 1 is interesting.

He has only won one slam since my prediction that he will get multiple slams, however I think that prediction looks good, he only needs one more before he retires.

I think it is fair to say I under estimated Andy's mental fortitude, hunger and will to succeed. Since those dark days he has had back surgery to correct a back problem and has slowly hauled himself back up the rankings, cemented the No 2 spot, won the Davis Cup, titles on clay, another Wimbledon title, another Olympic Gold medal and now on a winning streak stretching almost two months. Now - finally he is World No 1.

Note, that some idiot called banbrotam, suggested that he and  Novak could still dominate 

Seriously, the pessimism was a bit OTT, we've seen how hard it is for other greats like Rafa and Del Boy to get over injuries, so all i asked for is that Andy be judged when fully fit again

8n reality, it took untill the clay court season of last year, but that mental time away from expecting to win slams  could now be very good currency for the next 18 months or so

banbrotam wrote:Note, that some idiot called banbrotam, suggested that he and  Novak could still dominate 

Seriously, the pessimism was a bit OTT, we've seen how hard it is for other greats like Rafa and Del Boy to get over injuries, so all i asked for is that Andy be judged when fully fit again

8n reality, it took untill the clay court season of last year, but that mental time away from expecting to win slams  could now be very good currency for the next 18 months or so

Obviously, I am delighted to say I was so wrong.

In my defence (at that time) it was about his lowest point of his career and shortly after that he began the long road back to the top.

Wasn't aimed at you CC

banbrotam wrote:Wasn't aimed at you CC

No I realize that banbro.

Was a strange year in 2014, was losing in slam QFs and at the end of the year people were still blaming recovering from an injury like a year and a half before.