Murray's Ducks in a Row

T

TennisBatman

Semi-Pro
He had it all along...the game to beat Federer, whether on the hard courts of America or the grass courts of England, but lacked only that key ingredient of confidence, which makes the subtle difference between a boy and a man.

Murray finally learned the hard way that being a man is not about flexing one's biceps and making a mean face, or even bragging to the media that he has no qualms about having sex before a match; no, it's all about believing in himself that he can beat the big players in the matches that count.

In his rematch with Federer at the All-England Club during the Olympics, Murray finally gained that key confidence that will be there to propel him throughout the coming big matches ahead. He not only denied Federer the prize of winning the Gold Medal, but did it in such a fashion that both proved his own skill in comparison to the Swiss maestro, on his favorite ground, and exposed the disappointment of Federer that lasted over a decade, in failing to achieve what he so dearly wanted...

No greater than that day were the British proud of having Andy represent them in his triumph over the "foreign king from Switzerland" that for so long dominated English tennis. Now they have their own "home king" to rally behind, to take them to victory overseas...
 
batz

batz

G.O.A.T.
TennisBatman said:
He had it all along...the game to beat Federer, whether on the hard courts of America or the grass courts of England, but lacked only that key ingredient of confidence, which makes the subtle difference between a boy and a man.

Murray finally learned the hard way that being a man is not about flexing one's biceps and making a mean face, or even bragging to the media that he has no qualms about having sex before a match; no, it's all about believing in himself that he can beat the big players in the matches that count.

In his rematch with Federer at the All-England Club during the Olympics, Murray finally gained that key confidence that will be there to propel him throughout the coming big matches ahead. He not only denied Federer the prize of winning the Gold Medal, but did it in such a fashion that both proved his own skill in comparison to the Swiss maestro, on his favorite ground, and exposed the disappointment of Federer that lasted over a decade, in failing to achieve what he so dearly wanted...

No greater than that day were the British proud of having Andy represent them in his triumph over the "foreign king from Switzerland" that for so long dominated English tennis. Now they have their own "home king" to rally behind, to take them to victory overseas...
Click to expand...

+1 mate - great poast.
 
S

SStrikerR

Hall of Fame
Terrible, terrible post.

Hey, you asked for it. But really, nice post. No really groundbreaking thoughts, but it was well written. Kind of on topic, kind of not: why do people assume that Federer's going to have a mental block when playing Murray now? Losing in the Olympics isn't going to do that...especially considering he just beat him 2 weeks earlier, on the same court and in the same format.
 
C

CDestroyer

Professional
Murray still has ZERO majors. The olympic final won him 750 points, big deal. Looking at the tournaments from a point perspective the Masters 1000 are more significant.
 
B

BigServer1

Legend
SStrikerR said:
Terrible, terrible post.

Hey, you asked for it. But really, nice post. No really groundbreaking thoughts, but it was well written. Kind of on topic, kind of not: why do people assume that Federer's going to have a mental block when playing Murray now? Losing in the Olympics isn't going to do that...especially considering he just beat him 2 weeks earlier, on the same court and in the same format.
Click to expand...

I also think this is overstated. The h2h is 9-8 Murray. There was a time when it was 6-2 Murray, and Fed didn't have a mental block against Andy in big matches.

A match between these two at the US Open would be really interesting. If it's a Semi, I think the edge goes to Murray. If it's the final, I think the edge goes to Fed.

The Olympics was an amazing win for Andy, but he's got to prove it at a Major, imo.
 
M

MSK

Rookie
CDestroyer said:
Murray still has ZERO majors. The olympic final won him 750 points, big deal. Looking at the tournaments from a point perspective the Masters 1000 are more significant.
Click to expand...

Yes, but no-one is looking at the tournament from a points perspective. From a confidence perspective, Murray ousting Djoko and Feds back to back to win a title neither of them have, will do wonders for Murrays confidence - which as the OP suggests is the one thing lacking from Murrays game.
 
C

ctoth666

Banned
Eh I still wouldn't pick Murray to win. This might help his cause but he's still not going to be the best player in the draw, and until he is I don't expect him to win. He suffers from unrealistic expectations, which is unfortunate because he's a great player. I'm not disappointed int Murray for not winning a major because he's simply not as good as Federer, Djokovic, or Nadal.
 
M

MSK

Rookie
ctoth666 said:
Eh I still wouldn't pick Murray to win. This might help his cause but he's still not going to be the best player in the draw, and until he is I don't expect him to win. He suffers from unrealistic expectations, which is unfortunate because he's a great player. I'm not disappointed int Murray for not winning a major because he's simply not as good as Federer, Djokovic, or Nadal.
Click to expand...

He is the better player at the moment.
 
Hawkeye7

Hawkeye7

Professional
ctoth666 said:
Eh I still wouldn't pick Murray to win. This might help his cause but he's still not going to be the best player in the draw, and until he is I don't expect him to win. He suffers from unrealistic expectations, which is unfortunate because he's a great player. I'm not disappointed int Murray for not winning a major because he's simply not as good as Federer, Djokovic, or Nadal.
Click to expand...

That's not true. He is just as good as them. But not as confident and that's why they have the advantage in major tournaments. That might have changed now.
 
Polaris

Polaris

Hall of Fame
OP: Nice English, but far too melodramatic for my tastes. Anytime time someone brings up boy-to-man cliches, they had better have something significant to back it up. It all looks wonderful until you consider that Federer was mentally and physically cooked after his long semifinal. Murray should get credit for showing up prepared and relentlessly executing an attacking game plan, but let him win a GS before we go for the boy-to-man stories.

I really like Murray, but let's not get overboard (yet). Perhaps, this US Open will be his chance.
 
J

joeri888

G.O.A.T.
Let's not forget that it was not all Murray losing USO08; AO10 and W12. It was mostly Federer performing really well. For a long time, when playing Federer, Murray has relied to much on Federer misfiring, expecting it to happen in Slam finals as well, but he didn't. This time, Murray won. He played great, but on the other hand, Federer did not. I'm not sure that much changed, but Federer certainly could not bring the level required and Murray didn't hesitate or let up. It goes both ways, but I think that Murray in Slam finals against Federer for a huge part just had to deal with a more experienced AND talented player who can just outperform him if they both play his best. Not sure Murray 'had the game all along' to beat Rog in slam finals.

Anyway, he deserved his gold and it'll be interesting to see where this leads for Andy. Let's hope he doesn't disappoint at the US Open.
 
T

TennisBatman

Semi-Pro
ctoth666 said:
Eh I still wouldn't pick Murray to win. This might help his cause but he's still not going to be the best player in the draw, and until he is I don't expect him to win. He suffers from unrealistic expectations, which is unfortunate because he's a great player. I'm not disappointed int Murray for not winning a major because he's simply not as good as Federer, Djokovic, or Nadal.
Click to expand...

At some point, the expectations can become an advantage instead of an obstacle.

I think he has broken that barrier, as he now knows that all of Britain cheering for him was a good thing, after all. He will definitely hear their cheers across the Atlantic ocean, when he resumes playing in New York...
 
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