Dear oh dear, well that's another great upset for British tennis this weekend with Andy Murray again struggling to keep his head above board by losing in straight sets in his first match at the Indian Wells Masters, having been defeated by the unseeded Donald Young by 6-7 3-6.
Already I can see a familiar pattern to last year after Murray suffered his first defeat at the Australian Open final to Roger Federer, although this year Murray says he is in better frame of mind than he was last year, and judging by interviews I've seen he does appear to be. But it hasn't helped with his game, having both crashed out in Rotterdam and now Indian Wells it really makes you wonder about Murray and how well did he take his defeat at the Aussie open. He had said that while working with his trainers that he has changed a few small things in his game and tactics, but obviously they didn't work, which brings back the old maxim: if ain't broke don't fix it!
I do sincerely hope Murray can come back from this sudden slump, its the Miami Masters in two weeks time, but if he falls again at the first hurdle it really will be worrying for him not only that it could affect his world ranking and see him plummet out of the top 10 into the 100 even. On a more positive note though he has been performing well as a doubles player as he got to the semi final of the Rotterdam tournament with Jamie Murray last month, and already they have won their first two games at Indian Wells, which means they are now into the quarter finals, maybe they can do better here as well, it would really be satisfying if they managed to claim the tournament trophy for the doubles, probably not but you never know, it would also be a nice comeback against been defeated by Rafa and Djokovic, should Andy (with Jamie) face either of them in the next doubles meetings and defeat them! But again we'll just need to wait and see.
But Murray hasn't been alone in the knockout department, David Ferrer, the world number 6 also has been knocked out in his first singles match at Indian Wells, in addition to that were two players within the top 20, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Marcos Baghdatis. But its Murray belief system on court that really needs re-examining, whether he is defeated in a grand slam or a masters tournament he just needs to press on and not let it get to him and affect his game. Perhaps he can sort himself out for Miami in two weeks time, but frankly who knows? One thing we know for certain is Murray despite a few lapses is without a doubt a top player and one of the best British players in the history of the game, and while he hasn't won a major, he has made 3 grand slam finals and he has won 6 ATP Masters titles, which is more than most British players have won in their lifetime. In fact its more than most of the top 10 players just now, Soderling has only won one, Tsonga one, Ferrer none, Berdych one and so on, it does show the guy has undeniable talent, but winning a grand slam is sheer pressue for any top player no matter how good they are. Anyway regardless Murray hopefully will regroup for Miami. So watch this space.
One good piece of news from the Indian Wells tournament was seeing the growing resurgence of Juan Martin Del Potro, as he successfully defeated last year's defending champion Ivan Ljubicic in 3 sets, which shows gentle Argentinian giant coming back into the foreground. This could indeed be the start of a really good year for Del Potro, he could even possibly be within a shout of winning this tournament if he carries on the way he is playing, sealing his potential first Masters win. More space watching ahead. :-)
Another good bit of news is of course the WTA coverage of Indian Wells is on Eurosport ramorra so I can start watching that, it would be good to follow the mens tennis but sadly I don't have Sky Sports, but I'm sure the ladies tennis will be just as good to watch. So yet more space watching looms.
Anyhoow I'm looking forward to the remainder of this tournament to see how it pans out, can Del Potro win the singles? Can the Murray brothers take the doubles trophy? We'll see, stranger things have already happened. So watch.... ok that's enough!
No comments:
Post a Comment