Sir Andy Murray

[Macca]

Can Murray still get 3rd place if he wins V Djokovic in the final ? Or has Djokovic defended enough points to stay 3rd ?

 

Pretty sure he can't get third if he beats Djokovic and will have to bide his time. Please correct me someone if I'm talking baws!

[Sonoftherock]

Pretty sure he can't get third if he beats Djokovic and will have to bide his time. Please correct me someone if I'm talking baws!

 

No Djokovic isn't defending much here, so Murray needed to win the tournament and hope Djokovic got beat by Federer.

 

However, Djokovic is protecting huges scores in Monte Carlo, Hamburg and Rome where he won! And don't forget he also made the semis at Rolland Garos..... during this period last year Andy was injured in bad form, so he defends nothing. Andy isn't great on clay, but as I said, he should easily overtake him during the clay court season by just turning up and making a few quarter finals.

[E-P-K]

Murray must be in a hurry,

 

Currently leading 5-1 in the first set.

[minijc]

anyone got a link to watch this? Was told it's on bet365 but aint got an account

[Dynamo]

6-2.

[Dynamo]

http://atdhe.net/# Sometimes have random sports here mini.

[minijc]

Cheers dynamo.

[minijc]

'Mon Andy, get gan, playing well again after a poor start to set 2.

[Stuartini]

Has he won yet?

[Sonoftherock]

Andys defence is awesome!

 

He's broken twice after being down a break in the second!

 

Come on Andy, serve it out!

[minijc]

COME ON, great game of Tennis there, lets get a Slam now andy.

[Sonoftherock]

 

The king of the hard courts! Pity we're moving to clay!

[fine-n-dandy]

Pretty good at 21 like

 

 

He has now won 11 ATP titles, bringing him alongside the career total of former British number one Tim Henman and closer to Greg Rusedski's 15.

[Sonoftherock]

Pretty good at 21 like

 

 

He has now won 11 ATP titles, bringing him alongside the career total of former British number one Tim Henman and closer to Greg Rusedski's 15.

 

Slightly misleading, as they include loads of diddy tournaments. Rusedski and Henman both won only one Master series event between them. Murray now has three to his name.

 

Tennis is a lot tougher these days too... right now we have Nadal, Federer, Murray & Djokovic who are all incredible players that have moved tennis to a new level.

[fine-n-dandy]

Slightly misleading, as they include loads of diddy tournaments. Rusedski and Henman both won only one Master series event between them. Murray now has three to his name.

 

Tennis is a lot tougher these days too... right now we have Nadal, Federer, Murray & Djokovic who are all incredible players that have moved tennis to a new level.

 

I agree but to be fair, they did have to play the likes of Sampras & Agassi at their best.

 

Murray's ten times the players Henman & Rusedski were tho

[ZeroTolerance]

 

The king of the hard courts! Pity we're moving to clay!

 

He won the Madrid masters on clay though

[Dandyjam]

Slightly misleading, as they include loads of diddy tournaments. Rusedski and Henman both won only one Master series event between them. Murray now has three to his name.

 

Tennis is a lot tougher these days too... right now we have Nadal, Federer, Murray & Djokovic who are all incredible players that have moved tennis to a new level.

 

I'd imagine some of the 15 ATP titles won by Rusedski would also include ones he won when he was 'Canadian.'

[Coopy100]

His jumping smash and especially the backhand he played in the 6th game of first set were breathtaking.

 

I still don't know if he has it in him to win a slam but hope to be proved wrong soon. Boy fae dunblane is showin that scots can be world class sports stars. Long may it continue.

 

He says that clays his favourite surface. He seems to be better on the hard courts though.

[OinkOinkOink]

His jumping smash and especially the backhand he played in the 6th game of first set were breathtaking.

I still don't know if he has it in him to win a slam but hope to be proved wrong soon. Boy fae dunblane is showin that scots can be world class sports stars. Long may it continue.

 

He says that clays his favourite surface. He seems to be better on the hard courts though.

 

I don't get it, why?

 

Hes got the best record on tour this year. Has made a US Open final and now has the edge on the person who beat him in that final. What do you think hes still needs to do before he proves to you he has it in him to win a slam?

[OinkOinkOink]

His jumping smash and especially the backhand he played in the 6th game of first set were breathtaking.

 

I still don't know if he has it in him to win a slam but hope to be proved wrong soon. Boy fae dunblane is showin that scots can be world class sports stars. Long may it continue.

 

He says that clays his favourite surface. He seems to be better on the hard courts though.

 

No he hasnt

[ZeroTolerance]

No he hasnt

 

With you there.

 

I am fairly sure that he has said that hard court is is favourite surface - it's certainly his best.

 

That said he's no slouch on clay and spent a large part of his formative years training on it.

 

Also for those that say that "he hasn't got it in him" to win a slam should bear in mind that he is still very young. i saw this on teh atp site the other days - titles won before the age of 22 - which I've taken the liberty of updating for yesterday's title:

 

Player Titles Before Age 22

 

Bjorn Borg 34

Jimmy Connors 28

Rafael Nadal 26

John McEnroe 25

Boris Becker 24

Mats Wilander 21

Pete Sampras 18

Lleyton Hewitt 17

Ivan Lendl 17

Stefan Edberg 15

Andy Roddick 15

Michael Chang 15

Andre Agassi 14

Andy Murray 11

Novak Djokovic 11

Marat Safin 10

 

There are some very fine players not on that list at all - notably Roger Federer. For a late developer our Andy's in pretty good company there.

[E-P-K]

Jim Courier was saying during the match yesterday that winner between Murray and Djokovic would be the unofficial world # 2 in the locker room between the players.

[Slim]

I don't get it, why?

 

Hes got the best record on tour this year. Has made a US Open final and now has the edge on the person who beat him in that final. What do you think hes still needs to do before he proves to you he has it in him to win a slam?

 

I think he has it in him, although he often struggles with fitness. Especially in a game he plays where his previous game was over 5 sets.

[Sonoftherock]

Andy really should do better on clay, which neutralises weapons like a big service, as he's become an endurance player like Nadal. Whenever I've heard him speaking he's always said he feels most comfortable on the hard courts. Prior to the last Davis cup match in Glasgow, they engineered the surface to Murrays specification. It'll be interesting to see how he does on the clay over the next two months. Unfortunately, Nadal is just insanely good on clay... I don't think he's lost a match at Roland Garros in about 4 years!

 

I don't think Andy will ever have the game to win Wimbledon sadly... Andy has no particularly outstanding weapons, one of his biggest strengths is that he has no weaknesses (whereas Roger Federer has had his back hand exposed by cleverer players like murray) - although his back-hand defence and scrambling are probably the best on tour. He is also able to read his opposition, figure them out and clearly follows a game plan with pre-determined tactics - i think this is where his huge entourage help.

 

However at last years Wimbledon they were showing a graphic which showed the courts had changed dramatically since the days of Becker and Sampras. In the last five years the courts have stopped sliding so much and the ball is bouncing up and reacting more like an American Hard court... which can only be good for Andy. On grass it's usually much more difficult to wear players down and play defensively which is what Andy does... if you look at the stats, andy is always low on winners & aces - the complete opposite to guys like Sampras, becker, Rafter and Ivanisevic who have always done well on grass.

[Coopy100]

I don't get it, why?

 

Hes got the best record on tour this year. Has made a US Open final and now has the edge on the person who beat him in that final. What do you think hes still needs to do before he proves to you he has it in him to win a slam?

Win one. Still think there is a question mark over him when it comes to five set games.

 

As for the clay comment I was sure that he had came out previously and said thaqt clay was his favourite surface. I shall look for quote.

[Coopy100]

Win one. Still think there is a question mark over him when it comes to five set games.

 

As for the clay comment I was sure that he had came out previously and said thaqt clay was his favourite surface. I shall look for quote.

 

See about three different answers ranging fornm clay to hard court to grass: This one says clay from espn so I'm claiming a victory on points:

 

Though he was raised on grass and plays best on hardcourts-which bodes well for the U.S. Open (Aug. 29 to Sept. 11)-clay became his favorite surface

 

From here

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?se...&id=3726728

[ZeroTolerance]

Win one. Still think there is a question mark over him when it comes to five set games.

 

As for the clay comment I was sure that he had came out previously and said thaqt clay was his favourite surface. I shall look for quote.

 

Partially true, but I think we've seen continuous improvement over the last couple of seasons. It was only last year that he started to have experinece of the second week of a slam and now the only question is whether he can beat either Nadal or Federer in the final after playing the other in a 5-set semi.

 

To put this in context no one has ever beaten both Federer and Nadal in the same tournament.

[Sonoftherock]

With regards the clay court season:

 

Murray is set to compete in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid in the build-up to the French Open in May, but has previously struggled on clay although he showed improvement last year when he won his first games at Roland Garros to reach the third round.

 

I have found clay tough the last few years, but my game definitely got better last year

 

"I want to try and improve my ranking," Murray said on his official website.

 

"I think the clay court season will be very important for me.

 

"On the hard courts, I think my game is up there with the top guys - on grass it definitely got better last year.

 

"But on clay, it hasn't been the same as them, and that's where they have picked up a lot of points.

 

"If you got rid of the clay court season's points, I think I would be very close to Roger, and not too far behind Rafa - I need to improve my results on clay.

 

"So I'll just try and work on my game like I have done on all the other courts.

 

"I have found clay tough the last few years, but my game definitely got better last year."

[OinkOinkOink]

See about three different answers ranging fornm clay to hard court to grass: This one says clay from espn so I'm claiming a victory on points:

 

Though he was raised on grass and plays best on hardcourts-which bodes well for the U.S. Open (Aug. 29 to Sept. 11)-clay became his favorite surface

 

From here

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?se...&id=3726728

 

ESPN, a bunch of American muppets! You should of stopped reading the article when it said he was raised on grass, he's from Dunblane!

[ZeroTolerance]

With regards the clay court season:

 

I think he is show some media savvy there and playing things down. he has massively undersated his chances of reaching number 2. If you look at how the points are between now and Wimbledon it would almost be harder for him not to pass Djokovic AND Federer if he maintains anything like his current form. Federer is defending 2,620 points more than Murray between now and Wimbledon and the gap between them is 2,280. Djokovic is defending 2,480 more points and the gap is 170.

 

Quoting from my own post on TAMB re the gap v Federer

 

Right, the gap between Murray and Federer is 2,280. We also know that Fed is not going to defend his Monte Carlo points and Hamburg drops as well - albeit replaced by Madrid. If Murray were to win at Monte Carlo the gap would fall to 730 points.

 

Some assumptions:

 

1) Murray makes the semis of next 5 events, points gained would be:

 

360, 360, 360, 720, 90 = 1,890 less 630 defended = +1,260

 

2) Fed does the same - but also reaches the Final of the French as last year

 

0, 360, 360, 1,200, 90 = 1,810 less 3,250 defended = -1,440

 

Swing in points from Fed to Murray = 2,700 which is a lot more than the gap.

 

On current form it is Murray that's reaching finals and not Federer so these assumptions may be unfair to Andy. Federer really does need to start winning tournaments again or he's stuffed. Also if Fed does not reach the final of the French then Andy will almost certainly catch him before Wimbledon.