Rock, Paper, Scissors.. Muzz

Anybody notice the pattern yet? In the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic took home the title as the No. 1 seed. In the French, Rafael Nadal dominated his way to a record 7th crown as the No. 2 seed. Cut to Wimbledon, Roger Federer rolled back the years on Center Court to clinch a record-equaling 7th trophy as the No. 3 seed. At the US Open to be contested in August, the stars seem to be aligned for one man. While the top 3 of Federer, Djokovic and Nadal (yes, I follow the hierarchy!) are engaging in tennis’ version of rock, paper, scissors, there is one guy sitting intriguingly below them, always asking the right questions of them, but invariably getting all the right answers, and new tennis lessons to boot. Andy Murray is the enigma of this current tennis generation. The ‘Eternal Bridesmaid’ has been to 4 Grand Slam finals and has won 1 set in all of ‘em combined.

There are articles which list the perennial underachievers in men’s tennis. This list consists of the who’s who in failed causes, most notably Marcelo Rios, Tomas Berdych, David Nalbandian, Marcos Baghdatis, and Marat Safin. Safin did win two Grand Slams beating Pete Sampras and Roger Federer en route. So we can cut him a little slack. But there is some debate about whether Andy Murray needs to be included in this list. That might be a bit unfair. Ever a feature of the top 4 since 2008, the Muzz has consistently made the quarters and semis of every Grand Slam since he entered the equation, so for the most part he has been a model of consistency. But, the fact remains he hasn’t bagged one.

While Murray has all the skills in the book with a calculating mind on the tennis court (not for nothing is he called the ultimate strategist), there are a couple of areas he’s indeed lacking in. One area which has been oft talked about is his mental make-up. Critics argue that when he gets to big matches in the Slams, he seems to clam up and play overly defensive tennis. Sure, he puts every ball in play, but he lacks the killer instinct needed to finish points. My opinion is that this stems from a very important shot missing in that vast armory of his. Which brings me to the second area. What Murray lacks to challenge the top 3 is a shot that they all master in, the brute force inside-out forehand. Roger’s inside-out forehand is a beast, and is considered by many to be the best shot in the planet. He troubles pretty much everyone with it, especially Murray. Nadal, in his matches against Federer, keeps thudding away to Federer’s weak backhand side, and once he gets the short reply, punishes it with a brutal inside-out that Federer can’t handle. And Djokovic’s inside-out has been troubling Nadal all year long with that shot. It helps that Djokovic has the best backhand in the game which he uses to open up the forehand side of Nadal time and again.

Murray has begun a new coaching partnership with a legend of the game in Ivan Lendl. Ivan the Terrible would surely have noticed this glaring hole in his charge’s game. So, expect him to help the Muzz add this shot into his burgeoning repertoire. With this shot, Murray could be near unstoppable, because it would give him the confidence to beat the top 3 year-in year-out, and it also compliments his sweet backhand ( as according to me his backhand is probably as good as Djokovic’s). His game is good as it is, but expect him to be a world-beater if he adds this to his skill set. Then we would truly have a Big Four. But, until he wins that elusive first Slam, it is still very much a Big Three.

As I said, things are falling in place for the Muzz at the US Open, what with a Wimbledon Final appearance, the first for a Brit since Henry Austin in 1938. But before that is a tiny inconvenience in the form of the Olympics, ironically being played in SW19. The Brits expect a medal at the very least from their man, and without Nadal in the draw, I expect he will deliver.