You're actually probably the best Murray fan when talking about Murray on this board. Batz and Fedex all though nice posters, do seem to be completely biased and can't accept any criticism of Murray.
Thank you. I am a fan but I really only try to defend him against attacks and criticism that I think is unfair or unbalanced. In fairness to Batz and Fedex, they do pretty much the same although often with considerably more wit than I am capable of. You will rarely, if ever, find any of us starting threads with 'Murray is the Greatest This or That' as fanatical fans of other players often do. And all 3 of us have no problems acknowledging fair criticism of Murray (eg. his erratic serving, over-slow starts, all too frequent inability to close out matches at first opportunity, failure to win any clay titles etc.).
With regards to your post; remember Djokovic really could have won their match at the US Open 2007/ Wasn't Djokovic 40-0 up serving for the first set? Can't really remember now but I know Federer won two matches in straight sets he could have easly lost, the other being to Roddick.
I know that the 2007 USO final went to 3 tight sets with 2 of them breakers.
Djokovic was in his first Slam final and I always think allowance for nerves and lack of experience should be given to any player in that position especially when they are facing the world #1 player and veteran Slam-winner. He learned valuable lessons from that experience and went on to win his first Slam just 4 months later at the AO.
The AO 2010, all right, not a beatdown, but it was only close until the end and let's not forget many people in the world of tennis had Murray to wn that match. Did you? (I was banned at this point so I didn't really keep up to date with TW).
The 2010 AO final was closer than a lot of people on here seem to think.Only one break decided the first 2 sets and, as I say, the 3rd was a lot tighter with many breaks of serve, especially from Murray, and a marathon tie-break which Murray could have won (he had several set points). I did think Murray had a good chance because he had been winning a lot of his recent matches with Federer at that point although that was their first Slam encounter since 2008 USO. He just got tight again and Federer, as we know, is always a fiercesome opponent in a Slam final, especially on grass and hardcourt.
AO 2008 - well Djokovic did beat the guy who dismantled Nadal in the semi finals and if I'm not mistaken, took out Murray quite early on in that tournament.
True. Murray lost to Tsonga in the 1st round in a tight 4 setter with the last set going to another close tie-break which Tsonga won 7-5. Interestingly, Murray inflicted a bagel on Tsonga in the 3rd set but couldn't sustain that kind of momentum against him.
Djokovic's run in 2008 is at the least as impressive as Murray's US Open 2008 run. Murray froze in the final, Djokovic hung tough.
Agreed.
Nadal at that point in tie was no hard court beast (still isn't really) and was certainly beatable on the hard courts. It was only a four setter with Nadal, it wasn't a marathon.
Nadal was world #1 at 2008 USO and had just won RG and Wimbledon back-to-back. Hardcourt may not have been his best surface but that didn't mean he was a slouch on it either even back in 2008. That year, he was a finalist in Miami and had won the Canada Masters and the Olympic title, all on hardcourt. The semi-final with Murray had to be played over 2 days because of one of New York's infamous hurricanes (they didn't just start blowing at the 2012 edition) and so it turned into a bit of a marathon on that basis alone.
JMDP did it, why couldn't Murray?
Indeed, he did and all kudos to him for that. IMO, Del Potro's Slam win was more impressive than the first time efforts of any of the other current Slam winners because he had to beat the world's top 2 players back-to-back, something none of the other Slam winners had to do in order to win their maiden Slam titles.
