Andy Murray will never win a Slam
There. It has been said. Like an alcoholic coming to terms with his addiction, its a big thing to admit. But once you have, you immediately feel better. Murray is better than 95% of the tour even on an off day, and can beat the top 3 (and Del Potro) on his day. Increasingly though, his day is not in a Slam. Murray cruised through to the semi finals playing some excellent tennis, while taking advantage of a draw that started looking hellish but opened up nicely. He seemed relaxed and many were quietly confident going into the semi with Nadal.
Personally, I think Nadal was struggling with an injury for the rest of the tournament after the Del Potro match. Because he is not a sore loser like David Haye, he was unlikely to prevent a mis-shapen foot at Sue Barker in the final interview, but I think he was not at his best. Murray won the first set 7-5, and looked to be on top in the early stages of the second set. At 30-30 in the 4th game, he missed an easy forehand. He then collapsed entirely. Despite what the BBC claim, Nadal was merely average for the rest of the match, getting the cigars out as Murrays first serve faltered and ground strokes went flying long. He lost 7 straight games at one point.
As time goes on, the weight on Murray at this stage of a tournament will grow. If he is still, at 24, being phased by one poor shot, then he has no chance. Del Potro is about to come back to demolish everybody anyway, so it may be best just to accept Murray won't ever win and stop getting hopes up. We can just accept his role as a tennis Colin Montgomerie.
There is something dull about Djokovic
Novak Djokovic has proved himself as the worlds best tennis player this year, and that was finally recognised with the World Number 1 ranking achieved by reaching the final. He backed that up with a fairly comprehensive demolition of Nadal. There is no doubt that Djokovic is a very entertaining person, as you can see from any of his performances at charity events or from the impressions he was doing in his early days on tour. But there is something quite boring about the way he is dominating the tour.
When Federer was basically unbeatable from 2004-2007, he did so playing some absolutely breathtaking tennis, which meant people forgot James Blake and Ivan Ljubicic were top 5 players and there was no depth. When Nadal was dominating from 2008-2010, it was generally by beating Federer in some absolutely epic finals. Djokovic has also beat Federer in some great matches, but somehow it isn't quite as exciting. At Wimbledon, everybody was there to watch Murray, Nadal and Federer but nobody was bothered about Djokovic. This may change in the future, but it seems there is something about Djokovic that fails to capture the public's imagination.
Finally, a youngster breaks through
Bernard Tomic has been hyped for a while, reaching the second round at the Australian Open as far back as 2009. Much of the early press resolved round what an absolute dick he was, rejecting a knock up with Lleyton Hewitt on the basis he wasn't good enough and walking off court mid match in 2008. His dad also threatened to quit Australia on the basis he wasn't scheduled properly against Cilic in 2010. However, things have been quieter since then and he finally made an impression at Wimbledon, reaching the quarters with some impressive victories.
It seems odd that since 2008ish (when Del Potro stepped up), nobody has really broken through to even the top 10 of the rankings. In fact is not until you reach 24 in the rankings that you find a player who wasn't well established on tour in 2008 (that being Alexander Dolgopolov). Earlier this year, Milos Raonic made a massive impact before fading away slightly, so it is time for somebody to make a step up.
Against Djokovic, Tomic was one set all and a break up. He then Murrayed the match, losing 7 straight games before going out in 4. Tomic clearly has a lot to work on. His serve could be improved, his movement looked average at best and his backhand seemed a weakness. But at only 18, Tomic will certainly be making an impression soon enough. Whether he merely makes top 10 or whether he starts winning slams is down to just how much work he is willing to put in the next few years.
The BBC TV pundits don't really seem to follow tennis
I wasn't paying that much attention to the build up, but it did strike me that the pundits had absolutely no concept of there being tennis events outside Slams and Davis Cup. Sue Barker mentioned Djokovics great run in the Davis Cup and Australian Open, but ignored his 100% record in Masters Events he has entered this year. There was little reference to the fact Djokovic had already beaten Nadal in four finals this year, so perhaps could be regarded as favourite. In fact watching the BBC it seems that there are no tournaments in the world outside of the four grand slams and Queens.
I assume Sue Barker, John McEnroe, Tim Henman etc do follow tennis all year round. They must be aware that rather than doing nothing between January and the French Open in May, the players actually play a number of tournaments and the top 4 have played against each other on a number of occasion. While they don't have rights to the tournaments or any highlights, it would be nice if they treated the viewer with a bit of respect and discussed some of the other meetings the players had this year. Given the fantastic coverage they provide on 5live and the Live Text for these events, it seems odd at Wimbledon they aren't mentioned.
Juan Martin Del Potro is back
If Juan Martin Del Potro had not slipped and injured his hip against Nadal, he would probably have won their fourth round match. This is on grass, his least favourite surface. Throughout the match he made particularly late line calls, managed to throw Nadal off his game at one stage by complaining and then spent ages arguing with the umpire after the first set. Essentially, he is just as dislikeable as before. However more importantly he looked like he could mix it with the top players in the world again.
This is more bad news for Andy Murray, but for tennis it is generally good to see him back. He is definitely worth a shout for the US Open, and I would love to see him play Djokovic at least once during the American Hard Court season (which, the BBC should note, does not just involve the US Open. In fact, given that Sky show the US Open, the BBC may not acknowledge that either and just assume tennis is now done for the year).
The BBC have confirmed this image as a fake
No comments:
Post a Comment