Wimbledon Struck Down With ‘Murray Fever!’

by Matt Hodder⁽¹⁸²⁾ Red Star

The symptoms include nervousness, anxiety, raised heartbeat and an inexplicable desire to shout at the television screen. Yes ‘Murray Fever‘ has gripped the UK once more as the general public ask that age old question ‘Will a Brit win Wimbledon this time around?’

The answer depends on who it is you ask. Some would patriotically say “yes!” Andy Murray is the sole remaining Brit left in the draw and is going strong in the competition after a solid victory over Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic to reach the 4^th round.

Others however would disagree, stating that with the presence of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer as the world’s top 3 male tennis players, the competition for Murray is too intense.

Perhaps it is unfair of a nation to anticipate this level of success from one man. Expectation from the British public is notoriously high and as they wait for their first singles Grand Slam champion since Virginia Wade won the Wimbledon Ladies Singles Title in 1977 the perennial shouts of “C’MON ANDY” are getting louder by the day.

But Murray is the most successful British tennis players for decades. He has reached three Grand Slam finals, the 2008 US Open Final and the Australian Open Final in 2010 and 2011, as of the start of Wimbledon 2011. So how come he is yet to make that final push and win a Grand Slam Final?

Well those who would say that Murray simply isn’t as good as the likes of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic would seem to have conflicting evidence to support that. Despite Murray having a negative head-to-head record against Nadal (4 wins to 11 losses) and Djokovic (3 wins to 6 losses), he does currently have the edge on Roger Federer, arguably the greatest player of the modern era, with a record of 8 wins to 6 losses.

Murray clearly does have what it takes to beat the best, and having won 17 career singles titles implies he can perform on a big stage. But what appears to be missing from Murray’s game is that ability to fight back in the face of adversity. As an Andy Murray fan it pains me to say it, but when he is up against it Murray is more inclined to display negative emotions, frustration and even anger, rather than digging deeper and coming up with that vital shot at just the right time.

This was no more obvious than in his latest match against Ljubicic in the 3^rd round at Wimbledon. After having ground out the first set 6-4, Murray suffered a setback in the second set and when Ljubicic came to serve for the set, the Brit looked jadedly up at the player’s box to his coach as the big Croat slammed another ace past him. One wonders whether such a response would have been seen from Federer or Nadal if they were in the same situation.

There is no doubting Andy Murray’s ability as one of the best tennis players in the world. But before he concentrates on improving his second serve or reducing the number of unforced errors he makes, perhaps he needs to address the one glaring omission from his skills set, a Champion’s mentality.

Article submitted Saturday, June 25, 2011 & read 139 times.

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