As Andy Murray falls to yet another defeat by one of the big three, questions will undoubtedly fly around the media concerning whether Murray will ever become a grand slam champion. The last time Murray defeated one of the top three at a grand slam was in 2010 at the Australian Open quarter-finals where Murray defeated Nadal. Yes Nadal may have retired hurt from that game, and in fact came into the game with injury concerns, however Murray was the dominant player, and thoroughly deserved his victory. Since then, Murray has suffered 4 semi-final defeats at the hands of Nadal, and 2 defeats to Novak Djokovic. His record before that 2010 encounter with Nadal showed another 2 defeats at the hands of Nadal and a loss against the great Roger Federer. The one glimmer of hope for Murray in fact came against Nadal in 2008. In an epic encounter Murray played the game of his life in beating Nadal 6-2, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4. Murray was magnificent and gave every British fan the hope that we may finally have another grand slam winner. Not to be however, as Federer made Murray look the child in a brutal demolition of the young Scot. The Swiss master taking full advantage of Murray's lack of grand slam final experience.
Murray's grand slam record
already surpasses Tim
Henman's achievements.
With all that said however, Murray has reached 3 grand slam finals and 6 grand slam semi-finals. Tim Henman only ever made 6 semi-finals in his whole career, and Murray at the age of 24 has already surpassed that achievement. Surely if tennis wasn't so blessed with 3 greats all at one time, Murray would have at least a couple of grand slams to his name. But as with every generation of players there is always someone who dominates grand slams, Murray seems to be unfortunate that he has three at once.
Murray holding the Rogers Cup
after defeating Federer in Toronto.
Murray does not have a problem beating the top three (Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer) in finals. In Murray's short career, he has won 22 out of the 31 finals he has been in. Murray knows how to win. In August 2008, Murray beat Djokovic in straight sets to win the Cincinnati Masters. In February 2009 at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam Murray beat Nadal in three sets, defeating Nadal 6-0 in the final set. The list goes on, Murray beat Djokovic in 2009 at another Masters event in Miami. Then in 2010 Murray beat Federer in consecutive finals in Toronto and Shanghai. Even in 2011, the year of Novak Djokovic, Murray beat the Serb in Cincinnati for his second title in Ohio. Two months later Murray defeated Nadal in Tokyo, again winning the deciding set by handing Nadal a bagel. Apart from the victory over Nadal in Rotterdam and Tokyo, all the other victories came in ATP World Tour Masters events, which are only second in importance to grand slams in the tennis world.
Murray has a winning record
against the great Federer.
On the other side of the coin, Murray has lost 9 finals. 3 of them were in majors (to Federer twice and once to Djokovic), but in the other 6 he has only lost twice to the big three. In Thailand 2005 when Murray was but a rookie, Federer defeated the young Scot. The only other occasion was March 2009 when Nadal hammered him 6-1, 6-2 at the Indian Wells Masters event. In the 15 finals in which Murray has faced the big three, he has a 7-8 record. Unfortunately 3 of those 8 came in grand slam finals. Yet when you look at Murray's overall head-to-head record with the big three, you can see that Murray can compete with them. Murray has a winning record against Federer (8-6), which is where the good news ends. Djokovic has the upper hand in their head-to-head by 7-4, and Nadal holds a 13-5 advantage over Murray. So in his career Murray has beaten the big three 17 times in 43 meetings. Murray's record against everyone else though is impressive. His career record stands at 333-108 which equates to a 75% success rate.
Murray and Djokovic embrace after
Murray falls to another GS defeat.
The issue for Murray though despite all these stats is that his defeats have come on the big stage. Grand slams are what a player is remembered for, and at the moment Murray has none to his name. In the grand slam spotlight Murray hasn't lived up to his promise. Yes there are glimpses and sometimes long periods of pure class, but the rest of the time is the real worry. When Murray is on top of his game, he can outplay the best, but Murray has never been able to sustain it for a long enough period. Today, at 2 sets to 1 up Murray seemed to have finally broken his hoodoo at grand slams, but a lack of concentration and an inability to keep up his intensity led to Djokovic being let back into the game. Now usually critics would say that Murray has given up, choked, bottled it, or whatever they say. This however was different. At 5-2 down in the fifth, the game looked over. Murray's serve had been inconsistent all day and serving at 2-5 down Murray had to hold. He did and so forced Djokovic to serve for the match. Djokovic wilted and after another good Murray service game, the Scot was level in the final set. In the 11th game of the set Murray had a couple of break points but was unable to take advantage. Djokovic held and then broke Murray to win the match.
Many of us could have left feeling disappointed and upset that yet another grand slam campaign had ended fruitlessly. The reality was much different. Murray can leave holding his head up high after taking the undisputed world number 1 all the way. Murray could quite easily have one this game, but it wasn't to be. Murray must now feel though that he can compete with the best at Grand Slam's as long as he can control his mental fragilities. Today was a marked improvement, and hopefully with the help of Ivan Lendl, Murray can look forward to the rest of 2012 with hope and excitement.
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