Lendl: "I have big plans for Andy. He is about 20% there."

[Netspirit]

I agree with Lendl, Murray has the goods.

His major drama is, however, is not in his technical inability to hit certain shots or endure certain amount of pounding.

His biggest monkey is that he has no idea what game he should be playing. He is not sure. He has been criticized so much about "being too defensive" so that he feels bad when he is defensive and also feels bad when he is offensive (because it is not natural for him). He always feels bad, regardless of what he does on the court. His muted US Open celebration reflects just that: he is a guy who has been criticized by everybody but his family, and a guy who has been criticizing himself like crazy all his life. With an attitude like that, being torn between doing what he likes (defending) and doing "the right thing" (attacking) it will be very hard for him to become a great champion.

But yeah, he can. Nothing is stopping him. It is not that he is slow, or weak, or anything. He is a top-class athlete in search of his true tennis identity.

[90's Clay]

You can have all the "plans" you want. That doesn't negate you're coaching a mental wreck loose.. A freakin headcase of a player.

Maybe by "plans" he means some psychiatric help

[Sabratha]

Originally Posted by Prisoner of Birth

Djokovic will start to decline after an year or two, too. He is 25.5, not 23 anymore.

Djokovic will be going until he's 28 at least.

[abmk]

Originally Posted by 90's Clay

You can have all the "plans" you want. That doesn't negate you're coaching a mental wreck loose.. A freakin headcase of a player.

Maybe by "plans" he means some psychiatric help

murray is much less of a headcase than your crush sampras' rivals in goran, stich, agassi ( for major part of sampras' prime ) etc ......... LOL !!!!

[RF20Lennon]

Originally Posted by 90's Clay

You can have all the "plans" you want. That doesn't negate you're coaching a mental wreck loose.. A freakin headcase of a player.

Maybe by "plans" he means some psychiatric help

Ok stop over exaggerating lol Murray isnt even that bad.

[Beacon Hill]

Originally Posted by sureshs

If Nadal does not come back to his old level, and Fed continues to age, who do you think will win all the Slams for the next few years? Djokovic and Murray. It makes perfect sense for Lendl to latch on to him.

I think there is a better than average chance that Federer will continue to age.

[joeri888]

Originally Posted by veroniquem

1 slam = 20%. Makes sense. The other 80% is when Murray wins AO, RG, Wimbledon and WTF I suppose. Ambitious guy this Lendl

I thought WTF is a glorified exhibition tournament with less status than Monte Carlo?

[*Sparkle*]

I love Lendl's manner. He manages to be very optimistic whilst being incredibly matter of fact. He makes me laugh.

Bit of a maths fail in The Guardian version of this story as they have re-interpreted Lendl saying they'd achieved 20% of his predicted shared journey as meaning Andy is going to get five times better! Not quite the same thing. The Mail's rip-off story also includes the nugget that Murray and Lendl enjoy each other's company, which they have illustrated with a photo of them together looking their most miserable!

Cheeky photo editors aside, they do seem to get along, and this partnership seems to be a great match. The longer they are together, the more I've realised how much they have in common, but ultimately what I think makes the relationship work (apart from results) is that Lendl respects the kind of player Andy is, and isn't interfering with anything and everything for the sake of justifying his fee.

[Tennis sensation]

Originally Posted by Prisoner of Birth

In Murray & Lendl, you couldn't have found a more Wimbledon-loving pair if you looked for them

This
10Wimbledons

[TheFifthSet]

Originally Posted by 90's Clay

You can have all the "plans" you want. That doesn't negate you're coaching a mental wreck loose.. A freakin headcase of a player.

Maybe by "plans" he means some psychiatric help

Are you kidding? Murray just won the US Open.

Whose career have you been following? You're so bitter it's unbelievable. 99% whiny posts. Guess what? If you don't like todays game, NOBODY is forcing you to watch. Maybe you're the one who needs the psychiatrist.

[Razoredge]

Hiring Lendl was the best decision Andy Murray's made in his life.

[dominikk1985]

Originally Posted by nethawkwenatchee

You have me laughing like a hyena with this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdoa7T2RdzE

didn't the british have some good results in the juniors in the last 2 seasons?
oliver golding won the 11 USO and liam broady reached a final in 11 wimby. kyle edmund is a good young guy too.

I know most juniors don't make it to the top but if one of them makes it the brits might have a good DC team.

now they are 17-19 years old so if they hurry up they might still get a year or so with prime andy murray or slightly past prime but still dangerous murray (if he stays healthy).

[nikdom]

If Lendl is talking about bringing Murray into the fold of humanity from his current role as the world's most famous Tourette syndrome sufferer, then yeah, I think he's 20% there.

[Cup8489]

Originally Posted by 90's Clay

You can have all the "plans" you want. That doesn't negate you're coaching a mental wreck loose.. A freakin headcase of a player.

Maybe by "plans" he means some psychiatric help

what is a mental wreck loose?

Do you mean recluse? LOL.

[Cup8489]

Originally Posted by TheFifthSet

Are you kidding? Murray just won the US Open.

Whose career have you been following? You're so bitter it's unbelievable. 99% whiny posts. Guess what? If you don't like todays game, NOBODY is forcing you to watch. Maybe you're the one who needs the psychiatrist.

Oh, trust me. He is.

[90's Clay]

ROFL. WOW

MurrayTards on here. How many times has Murray got down on himself, smacking himself, talking to himself, only for the opponent to pull out the win? The YEC, all it took was for Murray to get a little fidgety and Fed completely took the match over with ease.

The USO he blew a TWO SET LEAD, and Djoker cramped up, finally enabling Murray to win something of note. If Nole doesn't cramp up, Murray doesn't win that match most likely.

How many big points and match points has he blown vs. Nole

The guy is a head case.. Pure and simple.. Wake up. Are we watching the same Murray people?

[batz]

Originally Posted by 90's Clay

ROFL. WOW

MurrayTards on here. How many times has Murray got down on himself, smacking himself, talking to himself, only for the opponent to pull out the win? The YEC, all it took was for Murray to get a little fidgety and Fed completely took the match over with ease.

The USO he blew a TWO SET LEAD, and Djoker cramped up, finally enabling Murray to win something of note. If Nole doesn't cramp up, Murray doesn't win that match most likely.

How many big points and match points has he blown vs. Nole

The guy is a head case.. Pure and simple.. Wake up. Are we watching the same Murray people?

Man, your bitter ramblings are truly funny - wind and cramp - that Murray is the luckiest player ever. It's not like Murray was up a double break in the 5th before Novak started cramping - nosiree, not in the backward looking, 'I remember when this was all fields' world of the banned poster known as Game Sampras.

Murray is a slam champion; he's probably going to win more. You need to stop crying like a little girl who's lost her dolly and deal with it.

Boo-hoo...cramp....boo-hoo...Novak shoulda...boo-hoo headcase...

Grand. Slam. Champion. End of.

[batz]

Originally Posted by Cup8489

Oh, trust me. He is.

No doubt about about - nuttier than squirrel sh1t.

[nethawkwenatchee]

Originally Posted by dominikk1985

didn't the british have some good results in the juniors in the last 2 seasons?
oliver golding won the 11 USO and liam broady reached a final in 11 wimby. kyle edmund is a good young guy too.

I know most juniors don't make it to the top but if one of them makes it the brits might have a good DC team.

now they are 17-19 years old so if they hurry up they might still get a year or so with prime andy murray or slightly past prime but still dangerous murray (if he stays healthy).

Yes, you're right that Great Britan has some hopeful players coming up. I was just admiring "kishnabe" sense of humor on Lendl's percentages conversation. The chances of Great Britan (currently) taking on Spain, Czech Republic, Argentina, even the U.S for the Davis Cup might seem understanably humerous and over ambitious. The thought of Lendl (or anyone else) making a public goal like this is worthy of a good laugh... thats all.

[nethawkwenatchee]

Originally Posted by batz

Man, your bitter ramblings are truly funny - wind and cramp - that Murray is the luckiest player ever. It's not like Murray was up a double break in the 5th before Novak started cramping - nosiree, not in the backward looking, 'I remember when this was all fields' world of the banned poster known as Game Sampras.

Murray is a slam champion; he's probably going to win more. You need to stop crying like a little girl whose lost her dolly and deal with it.

Boo-hoo...cramp....boo-hoo...Novak shoulda...boo-hoo headcase...

Grand. Slam. Champion. End of.

Quoted for truth. It's OK Batz, we know the truth on this matter. Anybody can youtube that US Open match and watch the first set alone (both players are fresh) and see Murray dictating play on a Nole who hadn't lost a hardcourt match in forever. Andy absolutely went for it and showed champion caliber will to win, in the toughest of conditions (against a proven champion)

Of course Nole was going to loosen up and play freely/agressively in the third and fourth sets (Hell, Murray came very close to getting back into it in the fourth and possibly closing it out then)

The fifth set is the absolute crown jewel in Andy's career (up until now). The fact that he was able to display absolute dominance in that situation proves (for the rest of Andy's life) that he earned it over the best, in the ultimate test situation.

No disrespect everyone else but Murray's first Grand Slam will go down as the BEST first win of any of the top four greats (first wins). Puerta (Nadal), Philippoussis (Federer), and Tsonga (Djokovic) were all players who had never been in a slam final, let alone Proven Champions like Nole. He had to get past a player of extreem confidence and expectation.

(By the way, all his other slam finals had been against Federer and Nole)