World No.1 Andy Murray has had perhaps the most surprising downturn in form in the 2017 season following his ascent to World No. 1 last year. The Scot, who showed a singular consistency in the 2016 season, winning his third Grand Slam tite at Wimbledon, has had middling to poor results this year, ones that he will likely have hoped to improve on at the Madrid Masters, where he was top seeded.
A finalist last year, Andy Murray has not managed to progress beyond the Round of 16 at the 2017 edition of the tournament following a straight sets loss to young Croat talent Borna Coric.
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No clay court slouch himself, Coric has beaten Murray before, in 2015 – but yesterday thoroughly outclassed the World No. 1 in straight sets to progress to the quarter-finals of the tournament.
1. Lack of Confidence
Following a string of early losses this year, the mercurial – and very emotional Andy Murray has famously struggled with his temper on court. Having battled hard to overcome what seemed like an insurmountable points deficit to Novak Djokovic to ascend to World No. 1.
But now, Murray is struggling to move past the earliest rounds at tournaments and if he does, the top seed sees unexpected losses routinely. This year, he has made two finals – winning of those one title, but since then, has had recurrent losses early on – in the Round of 16, Round of 32, quarter-finals, to players with far less experience than himself.
Those repeated losses can take a toll on a player, and may have done so in the case of Andy Murray. A lack of confidence can be deadly to the best player, in this case that ‘best’ actually being Andy Murray.
That may have worked on Murray to a point that the Scot is finding it difficult to now cope.
2. Pressure of titles and the weight of No. 1
World No. 1 may be a big title to achieve – and with his singular form and consistency in 2016, Andy Murray achieved that with that one final win over Novak Djokovic at the ATP World Tour Finals in London. But he chipped away at a massive lead over the year to do so, aided by some early losses by his Serbian rival, whose own downswing of form began only after winning the two year-opening Grand Slams.
Fans and watchers – not to mention the player himself – will likely have put immmense pressure on Murray to live up to his 2016 consistency, and that alone could be impacting him.
3. Coaching issues
Andy Murray brought back former top player Ivan Lendl to coach him this year, after his split from former women’s Number One Amelie Mauresmo. It was with the French ace that Murray saw perhaps his best form, and Lendl, unlike Mauresmo in her time, is not a traveling coach – meaning that he does not accompany Murray from tournament to tournament.
Lendl’s training methods are also said to be tough, with Andy Murray, prone to losing his temper, stoked by the issue. The two have not had as much time as they would have liked together on the tour, with Murray’s coach Jamie Delgado moving with him from tournament to tournament.
They split once before owing to differences – it is quite possible that those differences could well be cropping up once again.
4. Injuries
Not one to suffer from recurrent injuries, Murray this year has seen quite a few, in addition to frequent fevers and colds. The Scot missed Great Britain’s Davis Cup tie against France ahead of the Miami Masters struggling with pain in his arm, which brother and former doubles No. 1 Jamie Murray revealed was a tear in his elbow.
Murray also had shingles this year, and that can take a toll even on a non-athlete. The adult manifestation of chickenpox, shingles has a much longer recovery time, and one that brings with it serious aches and pains that the 30-year-old would no doubt have to have dealt with alongside practice and regular tournaments.
Father to one-year-old Sophia, Murray would also have had to juggle his parenting duties with illness – and the player has also suffered from flu a few times this season so far, which would doubtless drain his energy levels significantly. Some time to recuperate physically would be essential for the player to return to his top game.
5. Professional Burnout
Working constantly towards a few goals in mind can be repetitive, and in Murray’s case the player put in consistent hard work over the years in almost mechanical fashion to be able to reach the heights he has.
That constant work – with perhaps fewer rewards than Murray may have wanted, although he did win a number of titles in 2016, may have led to quite the burnout for Andy Murray.
Former World No 1 – and now World No 4 Rafael Nadal admitted as much when he took a hiatus from tennis last year. That can cause a player to lose his/her fighting spirit on the court, essential to keep them going in matches, and something Murray showed he had lost during his match against Fabio Fognini yesterday. Despite fighting back against the spirited Italian in the second set, Murray, who had almost wrested back some form of control, simply could not take himself over the edge.
That tenacity to fight through the worst of matches – something that has been a trademark for Murray – has been missing from his game of late, seriously suggesting he is burnt out.
