Is Murray stagnant right now, progressing, regressing

[NadalAgassi]

As this French Open is now in the past where do you guage where Murray is right now. At the start of the year, after his performance in Australian many felt he was on the upswing. Now though there seems to be more doubt. Clay is not his best surface so his performance there can be taken with a grain of salt, but even on clay he performed better last year.

 

[FedererDropShot]

Murray is probably stagnant right now...

I think his best hope for a possible slam this year is US.

Wimbledon - No way.

 

[Apun94]

Mentally Murray's better but I think this clay part totally destroyed his great start. Murray was clearly injured during this clay season. I mean the way he played RG and his match against Ferrer was just HORRIBLE. Even his BH was off

 

[tudwell]

He had an exceptionally good clay season last year (for him). No surprise he didn't play as well this year. I think he'll be fine come the grass and especially hard court seasons. He's always a big threat to the top 2 and I don't see any reason that has changed.

 

[batz]

Good question.

Although Murray had a less than stellar clay season, I'm actually heartened at the way he went out to Ferrer - don't get me wrong; that forehand broke down (again), but you know what - he was still going for it DTL and inside out come the end of the match, and that's something new for Murray. IT's the shot that him and Lendl are working on almost at the expense of all others. Courier says it's the shot that could win him Wimbledon.

So, to parapahrase the diplomat who was asked to provide an update on the French revolution: "Too early to tell".

I've always believed that grass is Murray's best surface. We'll see how he does on the green stuff.

 

[The Bawss]

We will see after Wimbledon but as far as I can see he is plateauing...which isn't what you want when the top 2 are getting better and better.

P.S: For you batz: he is regressing, it won't be long before his tennis skill level drops below that of a toothbrush.

 

[NamRanger]

Good question.

Although Murray had a less than stellar clay season, I'm actually heartened at the way he went out to Ferrer - don't get me wrong; that forehand broke down (again), but you know what - he was still going for it DTL and inside out come the end of the match, and that's something new for Murray. IT's the shot that him and Lendl are working on almost at the expense of all others. Courier says it's the shot that could win him Wimbledon.

So, to parapahrase the diplomat who was asked to provide an update on the French revolution: "Too early to tell".

I've always believed that grass is Murray's best surface. We'll see how he does on the green stuff.

Grass is too slow for it to be Murray's best surface. His inability to produce power consistently is what causes him to lose alot of matches. USO is where he generally has displayed his highest level of tennis, as the speed of the court allows him to sit back and take off a little, upping his consistently alot while still putting his opponents under pressure with some pace.

 

[syc23]

If the OP recognises that clay is not Murray's best surface then why start a thread asking whether he is regressing? He was clearly not 100% physically so losing to the best claycourter outside of Nadal is no shame.

I agree with comments that although his FH was not firing against Ferrer, he is clearly going for his FH more and progress will be incremental. Hell, everything might come together come Wimbledon.

Let's just wait and see.

Why no threads on Tsonga, Berdych etc regressing? They're not winning slams either. There appears to be a universal dislike of Murray on various tennis boards and it's getting a bit old beating a dead horse.

 

[BeHappy]

Good question.

Although Murray had a less than stellar clay season, I'm actually heartened at the way he went out to Ferrer - don't get me wrong; that forehand broke down (again), but you know what - he was still going for it DTL and inside out come the end of the match, and that's something new for Murray. IT's the shot that him and Lendl are working on almost at the expense of all others. Courier says it's the shot that could win him Wimbledon.

So, to parapahrase the diplomat who was asked to provide an update on the French revolution: "Too early to tell".

I've always believed that grass is Murray's best surface. We'll see how he does on the green stuff.

But why is he going for that shot? It's a bad shot. Nadal doesn't go for big shots with his backhand, Federer often doesn't hit out on his backhand return. You have to know your weaknesses and Murray should just grind off that wing.

 

[batz]

We will see after Wimbledon but as far as I can see he is plateauing...which isn't what you want when the top 2 are getting better and better.

P.S: For you batz: he is regressing, it won't be long before his tennis skill level drops below that of a toothbrush.

Thanks Bawbag - much appreciated.

 

[batz]

Grass is too slow for it to be Murray's best surface. His inability to produce power consistently is what causes him to lose alot of matches. USO is where he generally has displayed his highest level of tennis, as the speed of the court allows him to sit back and take off a little, upping his consistently alot while still putting his opponents under pressure with some pace.

His win loss record on grass is > than his win loss record on any other surface. He's a 2 time Queen's winner and 3 time Wimbledon semifinalist (vs 2 time @ USO). He's a 2 time slam finalist on the slowest hardcourt surface.

We're talking small margins - just my opinion.

 

[jaggy]

I cant see how you could say he could be progressing. Some combo of staying the same or going backwards

 

[batz]

But why is he going for that shot? It's a bad shot. Nadal doesn't go for big shots with his backhand, Federer often doesn't hit out on his backhand return. You have to know your weaknesses and Murray should just grind off that wing.[/QUOTE]

Yep - because that's worked so well for him in the past.

The world and his uncle have been saying for several years that Murray needs to improve his FH - especially down the line.

 

[batz]

I cant see how you could say he could be progressing. Some combo of staying the same or going backwards

Yep - I think it's probably fair to say he 's flatlining at the moment.

 

[BeHappy]

Yep - because that's worked so well for him in the past.

The world and his uncle have been saying for several years that Murray needs to improve his FH - especially down the line.

Yes it has, Murray can beat the top 3 in masters and grand slam semi finals, there's nothing wrong with his game. His problem is choking in grand slam finals.

He's doing what Roddick did and completely changing his game for the worse.

 

[Mainad]

As this French Open is now in the past where do you guage where Murray is right now. At the start of the year, after his performance in Australian many felt he was on the upswing. Now though there seems to be more doubt. Clay is not his best surface so his performance there can be taken with a grain of salt, but even on clay he performed better last year.

It's difficult to say. You never really know where you are with Murray. When you have high hopes for him, he often disappoints. When you aren't expecting much, he has a habit of suddenly surprising you. I had high hopes that he was going to avoid his usual post AO slump this year when he made the finals of Dubai, beating Berdych (one of his tricky opponents) and Djokovic along the way. Then I was quickly brought down to earth when he crashed out of IW (yet again) in the 1st round. True, he got to the final of Miami but that was largely courtesy of two walkovers (Raonic and Nadal). So it's difficult even to gauge his current HC form before we even get to clay. His clay performance was very average for him and somewhat of a regression from last year's performance (2 quarters and a 3rd r this year v 3 semis and a 3rd r last year).

Don't know how much injury has been slowing him down or how much it is due to his trying to become a more aggressive player. I have a feeling he is in a transitional period with his game at the moment where he's trying a few new things (eg. switching from defence to attack more) but, like with all transition periods, the results aren't quite coming through yet. I have begun to expect this to be a bit of a fallow year for him on the results front while he struggles with this transitional period.

Post AO and Dubai, both his HC and clay form have been somewhat mediocre. Be interesting to see how he gets on with grass and whether he has become more comfortable yet with the change-ups in his game.

 

[batz]

Yes it has, Murray can beat the top 3 in masters and grand slam semi finals, there's nothing wrong with his game. His problem is choking in grand slam finals.

He's doing what Roddick did and completely changing his game for the worse.[/QUOTE]


I really don't think he is mate - I think he's trying to improve 1 aspect of his game for the better. He'll still slice you and dice you, but now he's looking to put away that short ball too.

Courier said in commentary during RG that the top guys 'cheat' when they play Murray as they know he will generally hit his FH crosscourt and they are there waiting for him.

It's all good IMO - although I appreciate that you are perfectly entitled to your's.

 

[NadalAgassi]

It's difficult to say. You never really know where you are with Murray. When you have high hopes for him, he often disappoints. When you aren't expecting much, he has a habit of suddenly surprising you. I had high hopes that he was going to avoid his usual post AO slump this year when he made the finals of Dubai, beating Berdych (one of his tricky opponents) and Djokovic along the way. Then I was quickly brought down to earth when he crashed out of IW (yet again) in the 1st round. True, he got to the final of Miami but that was largely courtesy of two walkovers (Raonic and Nadal). So it's difficult even to gauge his current HC form before we even get to clay. His clay performance was very average for him and somewhat of a regression from last year's performance (2 quarters and a 3rd r this year v 3 semis and a 3r last year).

Don't know how much injury has been slowing him down or how much it is due to his trying to become a more aggressive player. I have a feeling he is in a transitional period with his game at the moment where he's trying a few new things (eg. switching from defence to attack more) but, like with all transition periods, the results aren't quite coming through yet. I have begun to expect this to be a bit of a fallow year for him on the results front while he struggles with this transitional period.

Post AO and Dubai, both his HC and clay form has been somewhat mediocre. Be interesting to see how he gets on with grass and whether he has become more comfortable yet with the change-ups in his game.

Interesting assessment. So short term loss for long term gain. Hopefully it starts to pan out next year or even later this year if that is the case.

It is true most of his losses arent terrible ones. Losing to Berdych or to Ferrer on clay is not really a bad loss. He just isnt really hanging as close to the top 3 as he was in the past though, or even really seperating himself from the players behind him is all. He also lost some of his early year momentum, but some of that was probably just going onto clay.

I dont know why he isnt a better clay courter than he is. However IF he is stuck to being a just pretty good clay courter for his whole career, then 2011 was probably the height for him on clay, and a year that wont happen often on that surface, and in that case there is less to worry about for him in general.

 

[raging]

Yes it has, Murray can beat the top 3 in masters and grand slam semi finals, there's nothing wrong with his game. His problem is choking in grand slam finals.

He's doing what Roddick did and completely changing his game for the worse.

Don't think Murray has completely changed-FH is definitely showing signs of
a few directional changes & I like his willingness to smack a few. The BH he can hit winners off all day long.
His serving will improve on the grass because he will get more out his first-serves ie THEY WILL START GOING IN!
He needs to get into another final in a major then we can see about his choking...

 

[BeHappy]

I really don't think he is mate - I think he's trying to improve 1 aspect of his game for the better. He'll still slice you and dice you, but now he's looking to put away that short ball too.

Courier said in commentary during RG that the top guys 'cheat' when they play Murray as they know he will generally hit his FH crosscourt and they are there waiting for him.

It's all good IMO - although I appreciate that you are perfectly entitled to your's.

If he'd grinded off his forehand side he'd have won. Ferrer is a braindead idiot of a tennis player and was still hitting almost everything to Murray's backhand even though Murray's forehand was imploding.