5 best athletes for the week 2nd May - 10 May

Andy Murray

He may have lost the final to Novak Djokovic, but Andy Murray excelled through the Madrid Open

The Scot recently faced off against powerful World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the finals of the Madrid Open in Spain, and although he did not come out victorious in that contest, still wins as one of our athletes of the week.

Now dropping to World No. 3 following that loss, Murray nevertheless put up a strong fight against a number of opponents in the match, most notably King of Clay Rafael Nadal.

The resurgent Spaniard took titles at both the previous two clay court tournaments – in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, and with the prior took his 28th Masters title, then equalling Novak Djokovic’s all-time record – a record Djokovic himself would break with his win in Madrid.

However, Murray looked commanding in the match against Nadal, beating him in straight sets after having emerged victorious over the Spaniard in the finals of the same tournament in 2015.

Murray has recently taken a renewed liking to drop shots, and used them to his advantage in the match against Nadal. He would bring them out again in the final against Djokovic, and to some good effect. After controlling Nadal in the semi-finals, he taxed Djokovic in the second set, with the Serb committing a number of unforced errors and unable to parlay some renewed shot-making from the Scot.

For impressing in both victory and loss, Andy Murray is one of our athletes of the week.