After the Australian Open and French Open finals earlier this year, the common consensus amongst commentators and pundits alike was that even though Andy Murray had done incredibly well to stamp his own mark on the game in this era, but he was a bit below the all-time greats. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and his nemesis Novak Djokovic had proved to be too strong at the pivotal moments in the biggest matches, Grand Slam finals. Coming into Wimbledon, he had already lost 8 Grand Slam finals and it would be easy for him to just accept the fact he could not get past Novak or any of the others.
Yet, as he entered the tournament which is probably best suited to his game, his exceptional consistency and positive energy took him through to join the elite legends of the game.
You can only beat what is in front of you.
A small minority of people, in the build up to Sunday’s final, felt that Andy had got lucky with no Novak or Roger being on the opposite side of the net. Djokovic had lost before the quarter final stage for the first time in 7 years and Federer went down in a 5 set epic in the semi final. However, this cannot be highlighted as a bad thing for Andy. It is not his fault that the other two did not reach the final. He swept past all the competitors in his side of the draw, hardly seeming troubled except the brilliant quarter final against Tsonga.
Credit must be given to Murray for showing such amazing consistency, and it has almost become second nature for him. For the first time in his career, Murray entered a final as the favourite and that is also a challenge in itself. Of course, it gives you confidence that people expect you to win, but there is also the pressure of letting people down.
However, he did not disappoint and beat the player in front of him, Milos Raonic.
Desire and Determination key to success.
Rather than being despondent and questioning why he was a player in this era, Andy has only sought to improve his game throughout the years. It is well documented that his training block in the pre season in Miami is extremely intense and he leaves no stone unturned to be ready for the beginning of the season.
This effort has brought success with him reaching 5 finals at the Australian Open, and he will surely win there sooner rather than later. Taking back surgery at the end of 2013 was a critical decision and even though he had a disappointing 2014 season, his movement has seemed to only improve since then. Furthermore, getting coaches such as Amelie Mauresmo and his current mentor, Ivan Lendl, just highlights his constant desire to get better. No doubt he is enjoying incredible success at the moment.
Improving his emotions on court.
Ever since arriving on the ATP World Tour, even to the casual follower of Tennis, it was clear to see that at times, Andy’s emotions could get the better of him. Getting agitated at his player box, commentating his own points and a general anger would be characteristic of some of his losses.
Rather than completely change his attitude and not say a word on court like Bjorn Borg, Andy has made his loud character on court into a positive thing. Using the crowd is now one of his favourite ploys and while he still gets angry at his box at times, it all has a positive intention. This has made him much more of a threat mentally and players now know that Murray will not go away mentally in a match, like he used to in the past. This should make him even more successful in the coming years.
Therefore, as Andy Murray enters a very busy part of the season, surely he must now be considered as one of the elite sportsmen in the world and will add to his ever growing reputation.