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Andy Murray, Not There Yet

Murray's victory at Flushing Meadows ended Britain's 76 years wait for a male Grand Slam winner. 

First of all, I would like to congratulate Andy Murray for winning the 2012 US Open, his first grand slam title. Surely he is now a big sporting icon back in Great Britain by ending the country’s 76 years wait for a grand slam male winner. The last Brit to win a grand slam was Fred Perry back in 1936, when he won the US Open in New York. He shows the world his great mental strength since that Wimbledon final set-back. He went on to win the Olympic Gold Medal just exactly one month after that set-back and now his first grand slam title on his favorite hard court surface.

His maiden grand slam doesn’t come at an easy cost. He finally wins his first grand slam after four failed attempts. Both Federer and Nadal won their first grand slam title at their very first grand slam final. While Djokovic won his first on his second attempt. He is definitely one of the talent guys on the tennis court. But what always failed him is his failure to rise to the occasion during the big moments. The failure to produce a consistent game of tennis throughout the tournament is what faltered him at the big stages. As we witness yesterday, he nearly losses the crown by playing poorly in the 3rd and 4th game. This win shows the strong determination from Murray of winning a major tournament after all those previous failures. Apart from improvement on his mental, he produces great footwork, a much improved service and also great patience in those long rallies. I think much of this credits goes to his coach Ivan Lendl whom Murray worked with him early this year. The game level of Murray definitely improved a lot. It is interesting how he will perform after this US Open victory.

Ivan Lendl is definitely one of the reason behind Murray's US Open success. 

After all those good words, it is time to be back on the board. Does this win enough to prove that he is good enough to join the elite group of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic? Well, with all due respect to Murray, I will say no. Let me explain that. This year is a pretty inconsistent year for men’s tennis. Djokovic started the year as what he did last year. But since that victory at Australian Open over Nadal, his form is on a downwards direction. He produces what I called as an average performance at Wimbledon and US Open. A big contrast from what we see from him last year. While for Nadal, he dominates throughout the Clay court season including his win at the French Open. But since that shocking 2nd round defeat at Wimbledon, he has suffered serious injuries and I just wonder whether we are going to see him again in 2012. For Federer, the best tennis he produced this year probably is his Wimbledon victory. But still, that performance is still a long way from the Federer we use to know during 2006-2007. The others like Ferrer, Tsonga, Del Porto still not really able to post a big threat to those guys in the elite group.

Murray’s win at Flushing Meadows is a time when most of the players failure to produce their best. (I know Murray’s fan will disagree with me) He beats only 1 of the “Big 3”en route to win the tournament. Don’t forget, Rafael Nadal didn’t even make the trip to New York. This is certainly a big factor in Murray’s win. Murray has a terrible record against Nadal, 5 wins out of 18 matches. Against Djokovic, he has 7 wins out of 15 matches. Against Federer, he has the upper hand, winning 9 out of the 17 matches he has played. During the process of winning his 1st grand slam, he nearly blew the 2 sets lead he has against Djokovic. His game was sloppy during the 3rd and 4th set that gave Djokovic a chance for a possible incredible fightback.

Luck was on his side too. A few close line calls goes in his favor. Those who watched know that the 1st set could go either way. Imagine if that 1st set went to Djokovic, it might be a different story. An interesting fact to that is that he has never beaten Federer, Nadal and Djokovic when he loses the first set in a grand slam match. But all credit to Murray for taking advantage of all those good luck.

Weather has always been a big factor at New York. This is because there’s no roof over the Arthur Ashe Stadium. The past 5 finals that are played on a Monday night and we have 5 different winners-Federer, Del Porto, Nadal, Djokovic and now Murray. At times, I believe the weather played too much part in US Open. We see that during the Djokovic vs Ferrer’s semi-final. The first day of play, Ferrer produces a strong performance. But the next day, it’s totally big change. It’s Djokovic turn of hitting beautiful winners and tons of error from Ferrer. We often see a sudden break from the match could cause the match to turn in the others favor. The change causes a different outcome in the draw. Certainly, weather plays a part in Murray’s win too. He has an additional day of rest when his opponent Djokovic took to the court after his semi-final was postponed for bad weather.

I don’t mean to discredit Murray’s win. But to be honest, he still need some time to prove whether he is capable of be in the elite group. I’m sure he will join the group one day, but definitely not today.

By,
Zhe Xu
11/09/2012

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