The title of my entry kind of says it all for the 2011 Australian Open as far as Andy Murray is concerned as a result of his disappointing final after Novak Djokovic ruthlessly beat him in three straights sets, scoring 6-4 6-2 6-3 against the World No. 5 (strangely enough its the same result David Ferrer won against Nadal!).
As a viewer and a supporter I felt really disappointed for him, but it is high pressure tennis at the highest level and it has to be really tough for him to try and live up to that. I also think even though he can usually play fairly consistently throughout a tournament, when it comes to the Grand Slam finals he just folds under the pressure of the event. Without a doubt it would be daunting for any tennis player. I was really hoping watching Murray play especially in the 1st and 3rd set that he would be able to break back and hold his serve against the formidable Djokovic, but unfortunately for Andy, Novak just outclassed him as a player. This isn't surprising considering that Djokovic had played so consistantly well against all the other players in the tournament only dropping one set, and going by his performance against Federer defeating him also in straight sets, Djokovic appeared unstoppable, and most probably he would have even beaten Nadal even if he was in good form and in the final.
And while Murray certainly didn't give the best account of himself on court, he was just up against a superior opponent, not only to him but everyone else on the tour, but Andy has at least reached another Grand Slam final, his 3rd already, which is far more than most British players have ever managed in their careers. It is in itself no mean feat. But its a shame we didn't get to see the Andy Murray who battled it out like he did in the previous game against David Ferrer, or even his gutsy performance against Nadal last year at the ATP World Tour Finals. That Andy Murray would have had a chance. Instead Murray just looked tired, drained, and beaten pretty much from the word go.
In fact perhaps if Murray played Nadal in the final, just maybe, well maybe not, he would have had a better chance, if he didn't at least beat him, he could have taken a set off him, because Murray has played Nadal alot more and he can go toe to toe with him. And that's probably another reason why Andy got beat as he hasn't played Djokovic in a major, even though he knows his playing style is similar he hasn't seen face to face how he has developed as a player in the Grand Slams as they have always been on the other side of the draw.
But as Djokovic said in his post win interview he is a tennis player and he believes in the dream, and that is something Murray clearly didn't show enough of, again although he claimed he would try and go out on the court calm and relaxed, he resorted to his usual negative responses, beating himself up and swearing indiscriminately to himself, which after a while I found to be a bit annoying (and can he just smile once in a while??? Well ok he did once throughout the match!). It just shows if Murray is going to win he has to re-focus and play with a far more positive attitude, as well as try and improve on his game, specifically his serve and keep up his consistency, on good days he can play great, but its just a shame he can't do that all of the time. But Murray did at least take his loss on the chin better this year, he didn't have to hold back the tears, he just congratulated Djokovic, his team and the fans, and in post interview he said he felt better about it this year, so hopefully this won't affect his attitude for the rest of the year. I don't think it will somehow as Murray's personal life is much happier this year since he rejoined with his girlfriend Kim Sears after their split in 2009, and he has plenty of other things outside tennis in his life, so its just a case of working hard and improving his game, keeping his nerve, and maybe just one day he will get there.
But perhaps not this year though on hard court, as it looks like this could very well be Djokovic's year, he's off to a great start having won his 2nd Australian Grand Slam, so Roger and Rafa will seriously need to watch out this year and so will everyone else, including Murray. And let's not forget Djokovic had a hit a slump in his career a while back, retrained and work really hard with his team and also use to have a negative court attitude, but this is something he has changed around.
The next grand slam isn't until May at the French Open, but clay isn't Murray's best surface, so I'm guessing he will need to wait until Wimbledon before he can try and seize his next chance, but again it will purely depend on his attitude, nerve and ability. We can only hope for the best for Andy and that's about all we can do for him, the rest is up to him, and until he stops beating himself up on court it ain't gonna happen.
Anyway that's the start of the new season for tennis, so we will see how 2011 unravels for the sport, in the meantime I hope Murray has a better year this year, he's off to a good start, so let's hope his loss won't dent the rest of his chances for the year. Best of luck, cheery! :-)
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