Incredible mental strength
To say that Murray’s biggest rival of late – Novak Djokovic – is not the most skilled player on the Tour today, would be wrong. It is only recently that the Serb has appeared to lose some of the mental tenacity that has characterized his game for so long, and it is in this that fans may have seen a slowing in his career.
This could be attributed to burnout, to the ‘personal issues’ that the Serb has suffered. Either way, although Djokovic’s injuries may have contributed to his losses this year, it is perhaps majorly his psychological ‘downfall’ that has caused his significant lull.
Trending
It has become known that Djokovic will be parting ways with his coach, former No. 1 Boris Becker, at the end of 2016, but it appears that mental cousenling might be more of a help to Djokovic’s career.
Murray, meanwhile, has shown no evidence of a mental breakdown. In addition to keeping his confidence consistently high, Murray has toned down the angry, ranting on-court antics he was initially known for, and improved on behaviour that former court Amelie Mauresmo also called him out on.
In the past two years, Murray married longtime partner Kim Sears, with his wife giving birth to the pair’s daughter, Sophia last year; Murray credits both events with having contributed significantly to making him a calmer person.
It is that mental strength that has helped the Scot scale even bigger heights this year.
