Right well this is something of a different post as it will cover a more specific topic than some of the other posts and with just two more weeks before the US Open kicks off I thought I would get another post in before it.
Anyway I digress as the focus of this post will be on Andy Murray and his struggles to beat Novak Djokovic over the last two years and a recap of the matches he lost leading up to his latest match in the Canadian open Rogers cup final in Montreal yesterday, which I will get to in a bit.
So to start off Andy has had a rough couple of years against his old rival Novak as after winning that historic Wimbledon final two years ago he had failed to beat him ever since then. And in 2014 with Andy having come back from surgery he saw himself as being a bit behind in terms of his form and fitness so when it came to playing Novak at the top of his game he couldn't quite keep up. And this showed in his first match against him last year in Miami where Andy did show promising signs against the Serb but lost his focus in the first set and went on to lose the match in straight sets. After this would face Novak next at the US Open quarter finals where they played a competitive match where Novak and Andy split the first two sets on a tiebreak each but the sheer effort of those sets took its toll on Andy as he faded in 3rd and 4th sets and his fitness dropped which saw him lose again this time in four sets. In his next match against Nole, Andy played him in Beijing where the World No.1 simply outclassed him and Andy struggled on his serve which saw him lose the match in straight sets. And in his last match of 2014 against Novak, Andy played him at the Paris Masters where again after a tight first set Andy lost it by a break and he went off the boil in the 2nd set going down a double break which saw Novak for fourth time that year get the better of him in straight sets.
So getting on 2015 things started with great promise for Andy as he had fully regained his fitness and played sublime tennis to reach the final of the Australian open where he was for once tipped to be the slight favourite against Novak. However....things didn't go as planned as Novak once again showed why he is the world's best player and in a match that had its momentum swings both men shared the first two sets. And in the 3rd Andy went up a break but it didn't last as he appeared to be distracted by Novak's on court behaviour as he appeared to suffering from fatigue or injury which ultimately saw Novak take the two sets to one lead. And in the 4th set Andy went off his game completely and surrended to a bagel defeat to hand Novak his 5th Australian open title, leaving Andy bemused at his own capitulation.
After this Andy next faced Novak at Indian Wells in the semi finals and this time it wasn't even close as the Serb totally dominated Andy from the get go and he dismissed him in straight sets. Andy however showed in a more competitive frame of mind a week later in Miaimi as he reached the final and both men played high level tennis in the first two sets, which after a tense first set, Andy lost on a tiebreak, he fought back in the second and efficiently broke an irate Novak's serve to level the match. However again in the 3rd set, just like it happened in the Australian open, Andy wilted again and he surrendered to another final set bagel defeat, which saw Novak grab his 5th title in Miami and most likely left Andy searching for answers as how to he could defeat his old rival.
However it appeared like maybe Andy could have had the answer in their next meeting at the French open semi finals in which they played a thrilling four hour long epic. But in a similar fashion to his previous matches, Andy got off to a slower start and he struggled in the windy conditions on court and against Novak's brilliance as he went down two sets to love. And from here a straight set loss looked inevitable as Andy had to stave off break points on his serve however the wind proved to be a bit of a leveller as he fought his way back into the match and broke Novak's serve to grab himself a lifeline and the 3rd set with it. From here both men raised their game and played some high level tennis for the crowd in the 4th set with Andy having to fight off more break points before play was suspended at 3-3 in the 4th. Play resumed the next day and both men looked sharp and Andy again made his move and broke Novak to go on level the match at two sets all in what was their first five set encounter in 3 years. But... in the 3rd it all went south again for Andy as he got off to a poor start on serve and went down a break and despite this time managing to save the bagel, he ended up being given a matchstick as Novak finished him off again handing the British No.1 his 8th straight defeat.
Sooooo this brings us up to speed and to Andy and Novak's latest match, which was at the Rogers cup final in Montreal, a 1000 Masters series event which saw both men face each other for the 5th time this year. Andy again was looking to snap his losing streak and for once he made the stronger start as he dictated play and he broke Novak's serve to move ahead 4-1 but the Serb soon broke back and levelled at 4-4 but Andy managed to break again to grab the first set for the first time in their matches since the Wimbledon final two years ago. In the 2nd set however Novak responded by breaking Andy in the opening game but Andy somehow managed to break back again to go 3-3 but he squandered it to hand the break back to Novak who went on to serve out the set and level. But in the 3rd set, Andy reasserted himself and dictated play and broke Novak to move ahead 3-0 however the Serb was not yet done as threatened to break back again as they played a thrilling 17 minute game where Andy had 10 deuces and ultimately held on to go 4-1. And from here Andy managed to hold his nerve and serve to go 5-2 up where he had three match points on Novak's serve but the Serb held on and forced Andy to serve it out. And it wouldn't be a Murray match without a tense last game as Andy at 5-3 had to save three more break points to FINALLY get over the finish line and for the first time in two years defeat his old foe with a thrilling three set victory winning his 4th title of the season in 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. (OK so it took me a bit longer to get through all that then maybe I thought but there we go!).
So that's Andy finally after two years and one month beaten Novak Djokovic for the first time since winning Wimbledon and there is no doubt that this win will give him much confidence going into the US Open which starts two weeks today. And it was also no doubt an important psychological victory for Andy because if he didn't win this match from a leading position then there would be not much doubt it would be a very tough loss to get over. But thankfully Andy managed to hold his nerve and (just!) onto his serve and he played the big points very well and the fact that this was easily one of the best matches they have ever played against each other which would make it all the more satisfying for Andy to earn the win in a real high quality encounter. And as is usually the case it was pivotal for Andy to win the first set of the match as historically he has never beaten Novak when he has lost the opening set so it was just as well he did here.
Not only that with this win and by reaching the final in Montreal Andy has now gone back up to No.2 in the world rankings and overtaken Roger Federer in the process not to mention Andy has also now qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals in November with three months to spare. So all in all its been a very good weekend for the British No.1 and there is not much doubt that Andy right now is the world's second best player. However that could change again this week in Cincinnati as Roger Federer who took time out to miss Montreal is the defending champion in Cincy and if he wins the title again he could regain the No.2 ranking. And given Roger's form on that court he could very well win the title again and it wouldn't surprise me although it is a bit of a risky gamble for him because if he doesn't win in the final then Andy will stay at No.2. So Cincy will be a battle for second best spot, which will prove very valuable for their seeding at the US Open and it will be interesting to see who will come out on top.
However I would actually go as far to say that Andy is playing the best tennis of his career right now and even better than he was two or three years as despite winning the majors and the Olympic gold, he was also playing with a back injury and his play throughout those years was somewhat inconsistent as well. However in 2015 Andy is now playing injury free and back to full fitness and despite having not won a grand slam so far this season, he is playing the most consistent tennis of his career by far and frequently reaching the latter stages of most of the big ATP tour events as well as the majors. Its a level of consistency we have not seen from Andy before until now and its great to see he has been able to keep it up.
So next up for Andy as I previously mentioned is the Western and Southern open in Cincinnati, the seventh 1000 Masters series event of the ATP season where he will have another chance to lift a title there although it does see the return of Roger Federer who is a six time champion at the event and as such is very comfortable there so he will prove to be a danger no doubt to everyone else. But with Andy's current form even if he doesn't go on to win the title in Cincinnati I still think he now has a very strong chance of winning the US Open especially now that he has gotten over that psychological barrier of beating Djokovic and he has done it before at Flushing meadows so there is no reason he can't do it again this time.
So that's it for now and I will be back soon with my US Open preview of my pick of the men's contenders for the title once Cincinnati has finished. But in the menatime I will say congrats to Andy for his win and also to Amelie Mauresmo whom Andy confirmed she had given birth to a baby boy on Sunday so I'm sure she would be chuffed that she got a double whammy of good news in one day.
Anyway that's it for now so until the next post its bye for now.
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