Murrays strange on-court behaviour

By Simon Briggs
The strange case of Andy Murray’s empty player’s box grew more intri­guing yesterday, after it emerged that a conversation had been held before the US Open, in which his coaches and backroom staff objected to the amount of abuse directed at them during matches.
On Friday night, a band of nine Murray followers – who included coach Jonas Bjorkman, fitness trainer Matt Little, wife Kim and Davis Cup captain Leon Smith – were spotted sitting in the high balcony above the court rather than in the usual seats almost within touching distance of the players.
After the match, Murray said: “I just felt like sometimes when the box is extremely close to the court, I sometimes can find that a distraction. So I thought it would be better to have them sit a bit further away from the court.”
Yet the feeling may have been ­mutual, after Murray had unleashed a number of angry diatribes during the straight-sets defeat by Rafael ­Nadal on Wednesday. Against Stan Wawrinka on Friday, his behaviour ­remained more controlled for most of the evening. But when things began to get away from him in the second set, he could be seen ranting in the direction of his old friend Ross Hutchins, who now works for the Association of Tennis Professionals, and has his own space at courtside.
If the two seasons that Murray spent working with Ivan Lendl represent the high-water mark of his career, it is worth noting that Lendl laid down a marker at the very start, saying that he would not sit there and take any backchat from his charge.
In the words of sports psychologist Don Macpherson: “When Murray looks up at his team and his monkey mind is just about to shout abuse, he suddenly sees the brooding, unsmiling Lendl, and the monkey backs down every time … out of respect.”
The more genial figure of Bjorkman, who has coached Murray through the second half of 2015, does not quite convey the same presence.
On one occasion in early August, as Murray lost in the Citi Open’s first round, he could be heard ­yelling: “If you don’t know which way he’s going to serve, don’t bluff it.”

hawkeye wrote:
What an odd life it is to be surrounded by an entourage who allow you to scream abuse at them in public for their own failings and adoring fans who think it's an acceptable way for a grown man to behave. 

temporary21 wrote:One word.  Scottish. 

CaledonianCraig wrote:I don't get threads like these.

Any true tennis fan who has watched Murray since his formative years have seen the mental flaws where his mind wanders and he berates himself and loses an edge in the psychological warfare that goes on in tennis matches. I have said it many times that he loses many key matches in the mind as belief evaporates and in turn erodes the confidence. Of course we all know about the legendary second serve (or lack of it) but is that anything to do with technique or more to do with the entrained mindset of him?

If Andy keeps his emotions and mental lapses in check he can compete with the very best but more often than not he falls off the mental Cliff and that always proves fatal against the legends of the sport such as Federer, Djokovic and Nadal.

On another note this year emphasises why I tend not to put overly much stock in the rankings. This is the first time Andy will end a year No.2 yet I recall far better years for him. I think of our debates on here and look at the Hewitt/Murray comparisons. Look at their careers and Murray has achieved much more in terms of longevity in big title wins and had better years (consistentlt) than Hewitt yet Hewitt has monstrously more years at number one. That tells me ranking means naff all or Hewitt plied his trade in an age with far less consistent competitors.

Jahu wrote:tempo, come on, admit you did not even understand my remark and you overreacted

It's not that I cant watch Andy behave like that, its just sad to see him waste so much energy like that and at that age.

I'd rather he behaved like at Lendle time, more confident and more focused, then like this.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Don't get me wrong socal I agree with your view point. If Novak continues this stellar vein of form over the next three years he will surpass everyone's achievements and become the new GOAT.

I think the current talk of no competition or boring stuff is mainly from those whose favourite players are not being allowed to dominate like they once did.

Calder106 wrote:Don't think that at the level these players are at Tennis is a fun activity. You don't get to that level without a lot of pain and hard work. If someone having a rant because they are not reaching the high standards they have set themselves stops young people playing then I don't think there is much hope for them anyway.

hawkeye wrote:^ Yes I do. I don't know where you play but can't even imagine playing against someone behaving like Andy Murray unless perhaps they were four years old

But of course it would be distracting! Some people do like watching that sort of stuff I suppose but most tennis fans prefer to watch good play rather than hissy fits. Murray would be clearing up in sponsorship deals as he is British if he wasn't so unattractive to many viewers.

Nore Staat wrote:There is plenty of young talent out there.  In the past they would have come through a lot quicker but nowadays they get stuck around the 10 - 50 ranking, because nowadays talent alone won't get you through a tournament nor too many long five setters.

Nowadays you have to have extreme physical conditioning of the body and extreme concentration in addition to the talent.  Tennis has become ultra-professional with nearly every facet of the game, physical conditioning, and mental focusing honed in and matured.

It has developed, in some respects, into a "team sport", where the brilliant individual cannot compete in long tournaments against team Federer, team Djokovic, team Nadal, team Murray, team Ferrer, team Berdych etc.  So it takes a lot longer to develop the "team infrastructure" to surround the talent and develop it into the modern professional tennis player.

That this has been allowed to develop is not only due to the fact there is more money in the sport for the very top players (who therefore can build a better team infrastructure and then reap the rewards of that), not only due to the increased development of sports science and its outputs, but also due to changes in the game that have brought in racket technology for better control of the ball and changes to the tennis surface that have partly slowed the game down AND brought in a level of predictability in how the surface behaves.

ps this is consistent with Calder106s comment but expands into the detail.