Why Andy Murray can upset Novak Djokovic and win the French Open

Russeljones

Russeljones

Talk Tennis Guru
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/te...t-Novak-Djokovic-and-win-the-French-Open.html
By Simon Briggs, Tennis Correspondent

The end of Sunday night’s final in Madrid had an almost anti-climactic feeling, as Rafael Nadal botched a pair of straightforward returns by inexplicably huge margins. Andy Murray walked to the net with a quiet smile and an understated fist-pump, careful not to crow about this victory over the man he admires more than any other on the tour.


If it was a great result for Murray, it was far from being a great match. Nadal never found any sort of rhythm and shanked a huge number of shots that you would normally expect him to hit in his sleep.


But still, a Masters title is no mere bagatelle, particularly when it is earned by beating the King of Clay in front of his home crowd. And last week’s statistics are extraordinary: Murray came to Madrid with just a single career win over a top-ten opponent on clay, and then proceeded to beat Milos Raonic (No. 6), Kei Nishikori (No. 5) and Nadal (No. 4) in successive days without dropping a set.


After a display like that, it is natural to ask how far Murray can go at the French Open, which starts in a fortnight’s time. Can he win the damn thing?

“Why not?” is the obvious answer. On two of his last three visits to Roland Garros, he has gone out to Nadal in the semi-finals – which is hardly a poor result. And there is no doubt that Murray is now playing the best clay-court tennis of his career.

In particular, he is moving better than he ever has on the surface. Thanks to the improvement in his back this year, he was able to put in a 10-day training block in Barcelona with his new assistant coach Jonas Bjorkman. It was “the first time in a while,” he says, that his body was strong enough to cope with such a gruelling programme.

Now the effects are showing. He has so much time on the ball that opponents are unsure how to break him down.

If Nishikori went into Madrid as third-favourite for the French Open, Murray has now replaced him. Clearly, though, there are still two men out ahead.

The Nadal we see at Roland Garros is likely to be a different beast than the one who faltered on Sunday night. And then there is Novak Djokovic, who is the only player to have beaten Murray in his last 22 matches.

In Miami last month, Djokovic extended his winning streak in their head-to-head meetings to seven. He is the outstanding player of the moment by a huge margin, having already won three Masters titles this year to go with his Australian Open crown. But an interesting psychology would come into play if these two near-exact contemporaries were to meet in Paris, especially if it were in the semi-finals.

The narrative of the French Open has all been about Djokovic v Nadal, who have played out three epic contests on Court Philippe Chatrier in the past three years. Were Murray to become a third variable in this equation, he would put a different sort of pressure on Djokovic. The world No. 1 has plotted to overthrow Nadal’s Parisian reign for so long now, that a challenge from a different quarter could catch him by surprise.
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Russeljones said:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/te...t-Novak-Djokovic-and-win-the-French-Open.html
By Simon Briggs, Tennis Correspondent
Click to expand...

Usual Nonsense. Murray HAS never beaten The Joker...

Not even at Wimbledon...In the Final.. By three sets to love... And totally Humiliated him.. Just like he's ever NEVER Bagled Nedal ever. Or beaten Nedal on Clay. Christ The Bum Murray's record speaks for it's self 11 -12 against Fed THE GOAT - UTTERLY FRICKIN' USELESS !

How can anyone say he has a chance against The Joker ?

The BUM Murray has no form against the Big Three at ALL.

I never read that awful Tory Rag the Telegraph - Full of nasty fascistic Tory toffs. David Milliband is the winner !

What a load of Right wing tosh. Why did you post that silly nonsense Russel ? You being such a sensible type and all...
 
When did they start allowing fan boys to start writing newspaper articles ?

If beating Rafa on clay in a master was the barometer for winning RG then Novak should be having 5 RG. He got that, right ?
 
heninfan99 said:
Wawrinka owns Murray on clay. Many guys can defeat Murray.
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LOL ! According the fruit loops on here NO ONE CAN BEAT BUM MURRAY !

Fact is - ANYONE can beat BUM Murray at any time. It's preposterous you need to point it out ! - He's always losing consistanly but there is so much HYPE on this list, when Bum Murray flukes one Lucky Lucky match everyone thinks he's the new Fedalovic!...

All of sudden people are needing to point out Murray is Human ! Talk about stating the bleedin' obvious !
 
Are you from England?

JonnyMac said:
LOL ! According the fruit loops on here NO ONE CAN BEAT BUM MURRAY !

Fact is - ANYONE can beat BUM Murray at any time. It's preposterous you need to point it out ! - He's always losing consistanly but there is so much HYPE on this list, when Bum Murray flukes one Lucky Lucky match everyone thinks he's the new Fedalovic!...

All of sudden people are needing to point out Murray is Human ! Talk about stating the bleedin' obvious !
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Russeljones said:
We need the reporting function fixed asap.
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Why did somebody say something you disagree with ? Why when people say something you disagree with, or you feel upset or offended do you feel the need to report them ?

Why not just ignore them as suggested ?
 
JonnyMac said:
Why did somebody say something you disagree with ? Why when people say something you disagree with, or you feel upset or offended do you feel the need to report them ?

Why not just ignore them as suggested ?
Click to expand...

I see this as one of the core problems in society today. People turn a blind eye too often. When I was a kid, if you talked like you do on here (you're obviously typing), you'd get clapped behind the ear and told not to embarrass your parents.
 
Russeljones said:
I see this as one of the core problems in society today. People turn a blind eye too often. When I was a kid, if you talked like you do on here (you're obviously typing), you'd get clapped behind the ear and told not to embarrass your parents.
Click to expand...

That's Sweet Russel... But do you really think it embarrassing to point out that there is lot of hype on this forum ? That's all I feel I'm doing rightly or wrongly - You choose.

There's some substance - and a lot of lovely humour here. But sometimes the hype is unbalanced. Every vacuum will attract something to fill it......it's just my Humble opinion. Maybe I'm wrong ....

PS - I'm probably older than you ;-)
 
Andy cannot beat Novak on clay.

Primary reason being his mentality. All things being equal, mentally he is weaker than Novak.

Fed can beat both Andy and Novak on clay. He's got the game and the confidence to do it.

If only his aging body and back can hold up.

Rafa is out of the picture for this year's FO, believe it or not.

My bet is Novak taking down his first FO this year.
 
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maruzo said:
Andy cannot beat Novak on clay.

Primary reason being his mentality. All things being equal, mentally he is weaker than Novak.
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Well, until yesterday, they said exactly the same thing about his ability to beat Nadal on clay! :wink:

maruzo said:
Fed can beat both Andy and Novak in clay. He's got the game and the confidence to do it.

If only his aging body and back can hold up.

Rafa is out of the picture for this year's FO, believe it or not.

My bet is Novak taking down his first FO this year.
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Of course Slams are different animals. Expect all the players you mentioned to up their levels accordingly. Rafa is by no means a write-off for RG and I expect Federer and Murray to go deep as well. But I think this one has got Novak's name written on it!
 
heninfan99 said:
So you dodged the question...No I am not.
Click to expand...

That's Great ! Now back to the Tennis.....
5219886-3x2-700x467.jpg
 
Murray was consistent enough to top old washed out Nadal,
but i don't think it will be enough at RG vs Djoko.
although he gained some mental clay toughness.
 
This is the crux of the argument, am I right?

"In Miami last month, Djokovic extended his winning streak in their head-to-head meetings to seven. He is the outstanding player of the moment by a huge margin, having already won three Masters titles this year to go with his Australian Open crown. But an interesting psychology would come into play if these two near-exact contemporaries were to meet in Paris, especially if it were in the semi-finals.

The narrative of the French Open has all been about Djokovic v Nadal, who have played out three epic contests on Court Philippe Chatrier in the past three years. Were Murray to become a third variable in this equation, he would put a different sort of pressure on Djokovic. The world No. 1 has plotted to overthrow Nadal’s Parisian reign for so long now, that a challenge from a different quarter could catch him by surprise."

I.e. Djoko only plans on one specific match for the FO (vs. Rafa). Any of the other six matches, he'll need to play to win it, could be his last. Cause he won't be prepared.

Good one. Thanks for sharing OP
 
Andy could not even do zilch against Novak on Hard courts.

We are speaking about clay here. Novak will wear Andy to a point that even if he is down 2 sets he will handle 3 bagels in the 3 three sets in best of five.
 
JonnyMac said:
Usual Nonsense. Murray HAS never beaten The Joker...

Not even at Wimbledon...In the Final.. By three sets to love... And totally Humiliated him.. Just like he's ever NEVER Bagled Nedal ever. Or beaten Nedal on Clay. Christ The Bum Murray's record speaks for it's self 11 -12 against Fed THE GOAT - UTTERLY FRICKIN' USELESS !

How can anyone say he has a chance against The Joker ?

The BUM Murray has no form against the Big Three at ALL.

I never read that awful Tory Rag the Telegraph - Full of nasty fascistic Tory toffs. David Milliband is the winner !

What a load of Right wing tosh. Why did you post that silly nonsense Russel ? You being such a sensible type and all...
Click to expand...

JonnyMac said:
LOL ! According the fruit loops on here NO ONE CAN BEAT BUM MURRAY !

Fact is - ANYONE can beat BUM Murray at any time. It's preposterous you need to point it out ! - He's always losing consistanly but there is so much HYPE on this list, when Bum Murray flukes one Lucky Lucky match everyone thinks he's the new Fedalovic!...

All of sudden people are needing to point out Murray is Human ! Talk about stating the bleedin' obvious !
Click to expand...

JonnyMac said:
Why did somebody say something you disagree with ? Why when people say something you disagree with, or you feel upset or offended do you feel the need to report them ?

Why not just ignore them as suggested ?
Click to expand...


you take the cake for the most obnoxious, annoying and Aspergers afflicted poster on this forum hands down

we've had our share of trolls and annoying personalities

we've had The Lone Wolf

we've had Conquistador and Maximo

we've had (and still do) Breakpoint and Fedace

you are the worst of the worst
 
go and ask Andy what he did the last 7 times they both met. He will give you a better answer that some journalist and some armchair critics here.

Novak is completely in Andy's mind no matter how you look at it. IT is same as Nadal in Djoko's mind at RG. No matter how many times he can beat Rafa outside of RG, he will always have it in his back of mind that Rafa has given him painful defeats there.
 
...don't forget Dark Knight, good list though

Legend of Borg said:
you take the cake for the most obnoxious, annoying and Aspergers afflicted poster on this forum hands down

we've had our share of trolls and annoying personalities

we've had The Lone Wolf

we've had Conquistador and Maximo

we've had (and still do) Breakpoint and Fedace

you are the worst of the worst
Click to expand...
 
Djokodal Fan said:
go and ask Andy what he did the last 7 times they both met. He will give you a better answer that some journalist and some armchair critics here.

Novak is completely in Andy's mind no matter how you look at it. IT is same as Nadal in Djoko's mind at RG. No matter how many times he can beat Rafa outside of RG, he will always have it in his back of mind that Rafa has given him painful defeats there.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Murray will have to be 100% aggressive and play perfect ball. Djokovic has better movement than Murray which helps his offense to defense. Murray and Djokovic ao 2012 sf like match at the french would be fabulous. Andy is beating everyone now. Djokovic Will be the toughest out for Murray no matter what where and how. Murray has been playing a very Djokovic like game this year esp after the IW loss.
 
tennisaddict said:
How come the Kohlschreiber match was close if Andy is in the form to beat Novak ?
Click to expand...

Kohlschreiber has always been a tricky match-up for Andy. He destroyed him in their first encounter at 2010 MC on the clay and their subsequent matches all went to deciding sets and often went right down to the wire eg. at RG last year and in Munich last week.
 
Legend of Borg said:
you take the cake for the most obnoxious, annoying and ******* ****** poster on this forum hands down

we've had our share of trolls and annoying personalities

we've had The Lone Wolf

we've had Conquistador and Maximo

we've had (and still do) Breakpoint and Fedace

you are the worst of the worst
Click to expand...

All but two of the thousands of people here have been friendly and welcoming to me, fully understanding of my tone and approach.

However you can not be serious....I'm genuinely ashamed I seem to have generated your particular response to me, and feel somewhat responsible. So I will do my best to clear up this mess.

There will be, on this friendly forum, people with Aspergers Sydrome or children or relatives with Aspergers syndrome.

Would they want themselves, children, or relatives compared to a 'worst of the worst character' like me?

Say what ever you like about me ! Offense is not something I take. Life is too short, and people so many. And I'm proud to say I DO suffer fools gladly.

So I'm genuinely thinking of you, and your interests, when I ask you this simple question:

Are you going to delete that comment about Aspergers ?

Add some more vitriol against me if you like. But please, that comment is beneath anyone's dignity - Don't you think ?

I know what I'd do if I were you.

Take care my friend, and next time you chose to abuse someone don't bring emotional well being into it. For your own sake and your own emotional well being.
 
To be a great troll simply being annoying is not enough. Man up and improve your troll game. Even other Murray fans are hesitant to embrace you.

You're making a spectacle of yourself. :-)

JonnyMac said:
You should know better - Delete it please.

Don't add to it !
Click to expand...
 
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heninfan99 said:
To be a great troll simply being annoying is not enough. Man up and improve your troll game. Even other Murray fans are hesitant to embrace you.

You're making a spectacle of yourself. :-)
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Heh heh heh .....You've no idea clearly. Don't align yourself with abusive bigotry....I urge you again, seriously - Think about your own behaviour before you look to others. I'd delete that post.
Thanks, I appreciate your back hand complement though, but - a great Troll I'll never be, I'm not even a bad one..........

AND !

I've TOTALLY failed clearly. I'M AN IDIOT ! It's clear my campaign against Murray has hideously backfired !
- People are now telling ME ( check for yourself ) how good that useless BUM Murray is....Apparently Murrys won titles!!

HOW CAN THIS BE !!????

The more I run him down, the more people rush to his defense.
Apparently he's already beaten Jokovic AT WOMBLEDON - In Straights !

You'll be telling me Murray will be beating NEd al next !
- LIKE THAT'S EVER GOING TO HAPPEN LOL !

I've had it with this place !

Murray hasn't a snowball chance in
HELL !
He can't even beat Raonic - The next world number one ....
​
 
He has a chance. So far he looking the biggest threat to Djoko on clay potentially. Although Rafa could rebound but so far he looking very vunerable. Still think Djoko would be too strong over 5 sets on clay for Andy but it would be a tough match for sure. Murray has my respect and he is almost back to his golden 2012/2013 type level. He will be very tough to beat at Wimbledon. If Djoko and Murray clash their would be an epic and hard to call.
 
Djokovic_is_the_best#1 said:
He has a chance. So far he looking the biggest threat to Djoko on clay potentially. Although Rafa could rebound but so far he looking very vunerable. Still think Djoko would be too strong over 5 sets on clay for Andy but it would be a tough match for sure. Murray has my respect and he is almost back to his golden 2012/2013 type level. He will be very tough to beat at Wimbledon. If Djoko and Murray clash their would be an epic and hard to call.
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Oh for the love of Pete ! - DON'T TALK COMPLETE SENSE MAN !

59752999.jpg


Although will Andy ever get Novak out of his *ss ?

It was so obvious Murray was going own Nedal ( like no one saw that coming ). But Jok - Yeah fat chance. Yok is in a whole league above now. What is Nedal, like 7th in the world !? ....

Murray could/did/would/should ...Won't - He's a Bum...

Sad but true... Unless....;-)
​
 
Last edited:
Legend of Borg said:
you take the cake for the most obnoxious, annoying and Aspergers afflicted poster on this forum hands down

we've had our share of trolls and annoying personalities

we've had The Lone Wolf

we've had Conquistador and Maximo

we've had (and still do) Breakpoint and Fedace

you are the worst of the worst
Click to expand...

heninfan99 said:
...don't forget Dark Knight, good list though
Click to expand...

The following will be very disappointed to be left out of your pantheon of great trolls.

Clarky21

Chicko

6666
 
Sentinel said:
There is stupid and there is silly. But there is also the damn right dangerous.

I wash my hand of this.

I, in no way, condone or support, in anyway, the mocking of the innocent.

Raonic fans on the other hand are open season...
Click to expand...
 
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Russeljones said:
JonnyMac said:
You really are something different.
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I could be black, I could be white, my sexuality could be indeterminate, I could be anyone. My IQ could be 50 or 250. I'm most probably stupid. I'm definitely Puerile. And certainly annoying.

But to compare the innocent to a complete 'knob end' like me insults the innocent. Never a smart move ...

Yet people are happy to do it. Let's hope they are just not aware - Give them the benefit of the doubt....

I notice you Russel appear to have had the sense to NOT put yourself in the obviously prejudiced club. Or as I shall call it the OPC.

Call me what you like - But Delete the offending words gentleman - please...
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