Djokovic vs Murray: Gladiators at the Rod Laver Arena

Close to five hours of breath-taking tennis. Murray proved his critics wrong with his stomach for a fight on a big stage and against a bigger opponent. Guess the Lendl effect is after all working. The season ahead should be interesting for Murray followers. He has made a great start. Respects to both the players and this won’t be a review on the match – just some thoughts on what each player did in this match which might have altered the result to what it was, at the end of the day.

An insanely flexible athlete

Novak Djokovic

• Is the numero-uno actually feigning fatigue? His opponent today obviously got distracted when Nole gave tired grunts. Murray lost a slew of points as he either became complacent or disinterested while Nole soon rose his energy levels miraculously and punished Murray.
• How can a man who has breathing concerns and not exactly the best stamina in business, run like this? Forrest Gump and Rafael Nadal would get a complex for sure. Guess the drive and motivation to win a tennis match motors his legs. Sheer madness. Fans of the opposing player would surely feel like pouring out the choicest of foul words seeing this man running like crazy for just a tennis point.
• Rafa seriously has a competitor in the execution of bewildering freakish winners. The way this guy slides and recovers any ball from any corner clearly shows that he is besting Rafa at his own game. Such a flexible wiry frame.
• And finally, is he on DRUGS? Today the camera caught him taking some pill which he did not want to reveal to the viewers on TV. Something fishy? Hope it isn’t anything serious. This guy has made such a deep mark that a drug sham would be devastating.

Almost there but, same old story

Andy Murray

• Why does he have such a casual attitude on certain points? He just tanks his shots to the net or smashes them wide off the lines. The 4th set flew in a maze in a matter of 25 mins because of this casual attitude. In the 3rd set, the same Murray gave such a hard time to Nole on certain service games that extended beyond 10 mins. He got complacent after the 3rd set and Nole punished him deservingly with a whirlwind 4th set.
• His fighting spirit was remarkable. From 2-5 in the 5th set to 5-5 and having 3 break points to go up 6-5 and to serve for the match. Awesome turnaround for a player who was considered chicken fodder for the Top 3 in the Slams, till last season. The Lendl effect? Perhaps
• The big serve deserted him today. He has the capability to fire the big aces. But, today he was a mere shadow of his big serving self. Nole had more aces than him, in fact. 10 double faults didn’t help his cause either.
• Can he win a Slam? Not anytime soon. His on-court attitude is too immature, he is reactive, too temperamental and he has a long way to go. Even Federer could start winning consistently only after controlling his tantrums and temper on court. Same with Nole. Will the years wait for him? Obviously not. 24 yrs and his best years are almost running out of catching distance. But, compared to 2011, the start to the Slam season this year has been much better for Murray. He is fighting it out and the perennial underdog might just sting better in the remaining 3 Slams of the year. All is not lost, for sure.

So, another Rafa vs Nole Slam final. More on that, tomorrow.