All he needed was a breakthrough

Just like anyone else in life, Sportsmen are very reliant on breakthroughs achieved at the right time to flourish in their careers. For instance, a Test Cricketer feels he belongs to this level when he scores the Maiden Test Century, regardless of the quality of opposition playing against. On similar lines, Tennis greats are always evaluated based on the number of Grand Slam titles they win and that’s why the likes of Roger Federer and Pete Sampras are rated so highly. From the moment he won the Junior’s title at the Flushing Meadows in 2004, Britain’s (or is it Scotland’s?) Andy Murray have long been touted as someone who would end his career as one of the best players to have ever made his way onto the Tennis Court. But how well has be backed up the judgement? Has he justified the pundits’ claims and beliefs? Not till last Monday, without a Grand Slam singles title to his name.

Speaking about Andy Murray, my brother who is an absolute Tennis wizard, has made a very sensible point about the Scot’s failure to cross the final hurdle in a Major. No wonder how talented you are, when you are playing a Grand Slam Finals to win your first big tournament, you ought to have some nerves running. In such a scenario, the easier option for you to play your best is, when you have an opponent who has a slightly weaker repertoire than you do. With all due respect to Puerta, Philippoussis and Tsonga, they were always second favorites when they played Rafa, Roger and Djokovic respectively, when the latter trio annexed their first Majors. Moving on to whom Andy had to face in his first four final attempts - Federer, Federer, Djokovic, Federer - Tough luck? Maybe not. To become the best he had to beat the best and since he didn’t, he continued to be second best - Correction - Fourth best.

I have always seen Andy Murray to be as talented as Novak Djokovic is, if not better. He does have a brilliant counter-punching game, a solid serve to back it up, tremendous athleticism, cat-like reflexes and anticipation, capability to be less error-prone - everything that would point to a world-beater. 

 

But beyond all the potential and skill, Murray just failed to show the mental resolve required in critical situations and thereby slipped at the final juncture every time. His failure at Wimbledon can be only mapped to the enormous amount of pressure that the media exert on poor Andy. There is a thin line that separates an onslaught and an expectation. The British press chose the former and not just Andy - every sportsman in the UK goes through the trauma. I can recall only a handful - the likes of Andrew Flintoff, Ian Botham etc who thrived on the pressure created by this unforgiving media and chose to excel instead. The other names like Footballers Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard (not always), Frank Lampard have always struggled to meet the sky-high expectations and have surrendered meekly.

For someone who looks mostly untroubled when pitted against the top 3 and for someone who has won 8 Masters 1000 titles, it has been befuddling for many that Murray couldn’t leap that extra mile required for a Grand Slam title. Losing the first four attempts on the trot in Major finals could have only demoralized the Scott. But he didn’t have to look too far for an inspiration to recover from such a losing streak. His own Coach Ivan Lendl, had a very similar pattern in his career in finals bumping against formidable opponents like Borg, Connors and Wilander each time. Known for his ability to keep his composure, Lendl fought relentlessly and went onto win 9 Majors - a good achievement when we take into account the players he had to contend with. If not for his nemesis Boris Becker, that number would have hit the double figure mark.

 

So when Andy Murray finally won the US Open this year, he was quick to accredit his success to the stone-faced coach of his, whose calming influence has surely rubbed on Andy's attitude. During the finals when he won one of the many important points, the cameras turned towards the Czech who failed to show a semblance of excitement. The commentator moaned “Well, that’s all you get from the Man”. 

It’s important to understand the role played by Coaches in Modern Tennis, though it goes largely unnoticed. Roger Federer as I understand, won many a Major without a full-time coach but here we are speaking about an exceptional individual who had absolutely everything at his disposal on the court. Rafael Nadal wouldn’t have been known outside Majorca were he not assocated with his uncle-coach, Toni Nadal. Novak Djokovic will readily agree to the fact that he wouldn’t have rejuvenated himself so dramatically last year, without the support of his Coaching staff. Likewise, Ivan Lendl has contributed significantly towards Murray's ascendancy - that he achieve within a year's association with the Scot, is incredible.

History has finally been created, we have a British Grand Slam Singles Men’s Champion in 76 years. It will be interesting to observe how Murray reacts to this win and how well he constructs the rest of his career. I personally believe, with the monkey off his back, he can go onto win at least half a dozen Majors, by the time he hangs up his racket. The year 2013 cannot get more exciting for Tennis Lovers.

PS: Even if the knees force him to retirement today, It's Rafa always for me. Andy comes next!