Andy Murray vs Michael Russell, Tuesday, at 7:00PM GMT (UK time) - Discuss the match
Murray sweats to swat aside Seppi
March 14, 2010, 09:45 PM | 43 comments » add comment
The British number one has drawn criticism from various quarters of the media over the past few weeks, so it was refreshing to see him back in his usual environment, the tennis court.
This second round clash was hardly exhilarating. There were noticeable lulls for large junctures of the match, and the crowd was fairly minimal due to the match being scheduled so early, but there were a few baseline exchanges that will make the highlight reel.
Murray broke in the very first game, and a demolition job looked quite probable. However, a slack service game and some passive tennis typical of early Murray encounters, ensured the break was handed straight back to the Italian. The Scot's infamously inconsistent serve was prominent from the beginning of the match, and Murray was made to work hard in many of his service games throughout.
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The world number four seemed content to let Seppi dictate play. The Italian is not known for possessing any ferocious weapons in his locker, but Murray's reluctance to be the aggressor allowed Seppi to step forward into the ball, and force the Brit to run from side to side. However, the defensive wall of Murray proved impenetrable, and Seppi sprayed a sufficient amount of errors to give his more illustrious opponent the double break.
Murray did little to assuage the anxieties of his fans, when he dropped service again when serving for the set. Another stern test was provided at 5-4, but the fourth seed held firm and took the first set.
As the match grew older, Murray's serve percentages became greater, and he started to hit with more depth. The score remained up until 3-3, when a lax backhand volley from Seppi gave Murray the edge, and the Australian Open finalist had little drama in closing out the match.
It was a pleasing victory, but the perfectionist nature of Murray will have seen many areas for marked improvement. In his post-match interview, Murray acknowledged his conservative tennis, but was relieved to win in straight-sets.
He will go on to face either Michael Russell of the USA or Igor Andreev of Russia, who play out their Cold War clash on Stadium 3 later.
Other venerable members of the MurraysWorld news team voiced their displeasure at the performance levels of both players. One likened it to post-curry defecation. Most members seemed content that Murray had booked his passage into the next round.
Murray did little to assuage the anxieties of his fans, when he dropped service again when serving for the set. Another stern test was provided at 5-4, but the fourth seed held firm and took the first set.
As the match grew older, Murray's serve percentages became greater, and he started to hit with more depth. The score remained up until 3-3, when a lax backhand volley from Seppi gave Murray the edge, and the Australian Open finalist had little drama in closing out the match.
It was a pleasing victory, but the perfectionist nature of Murray will have seen many areas for marked improvement. In his post-match interview, Murray acknowledged his conservative tennis, but was relieved to win in straight-sets.
He will go on to face either Michael Russell of the USA or Igor Andreev of Russia, who play out their Cold War clash on Stadium 3 later.
Other venerable members of the MurraysWorld news team voiced their displeasure at the performance levels of both players. One likened it to post-curry defecation. Most members seemed content that Murray had booked his passage into the next round.
Murray drawn in Federer's half at IW
March 10, 2010, 10:04 AM | 32 comments » add comment
The Scot has a bye in the first round and therefore will play either Robby Ginepri or Andreas Seppi in the second round.
Murray's likely path to the title is as follows:
R1: Bye
R2: Andreas Seppi
R3: Igor Andreev
R4: David Ferrer
QF: Robin Soderling
SF: Roger Federer
F: Rafael Nadal
View the draw
Murray exits Dubai with a whimper
February 24, 2010, 05:47 PM | 84 comments » add comment
It was a lacklustre performance from the Scot, who looked lethargic and disinterested from the outset. The Serb wasted no time in taking advantage of Murray's generosity, breaking early in the first set and maintaining his lead until 5-4. It was at this point that the World Number 4 appeared to get his act together. For the first time in the match, Murray displayed sustained quality and earned himself the break to even the score. Joy was short lived for Murray fans, however. The Scot soon reverted to his earlier form, tamely surrendering the opening set in the tiebreaker.
There was more purpose to Murray's play at the start of the 2nd set, as he broke the Serb immediately. The Scot looked to have discovered some of the form that carried him to the Australian Open final. However, Tipsarevic maintained his level and kept the set competitive. Having blown two set points at 5-3*, Murray finally closed it out a game later with the aid of his oftentimes erratic first serve.
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It was back to the form of the opening set at the start of 3rd, unfortunately for British fans. Murray again looked disinterested, throwing in one careless error after another to hand Tipsarevic an early break. The Serb was screaming and wailing like he was competing in the final of a major, while Murray had the look of a man who wanted to be elsewhere. It was a mostly passionless display from a usually fiery Scot. He did put up some resistance in an epic 5th game, carving out several breakpoints, before breaking at 5-3 to get back on serve. As was typical of today's display, however, the Scot threw in a number of errors to hand Tipsarevic the break and the match.
Murray's comments
It is always disappointing to lose, but I did not have much expectation from the tournament. I am coming from a big break after the Australian Open and was not as prepared as I should have been for the tournament. I was still trying out things on the court, rather than playing my normal game.
Murray progresses in Dubai
February 22, 2010, 07:16 PM | 35 comments » add comment
In his first match since reaching the final at the Australian Open, Murray started off slowly saving break points before holding serve. Then came an extraordinary game that lasted 24 minutes in which neither player could string enough points together to win the game. Murray was finally able to break at the ninth opportunity.
The set then slowly but comfortably went with serve until Kunitsyn served at 2-5. Murray found himself with another break point, and this time a set point, which he converted.
A double fault break point down in the opening game of the second set handed the Russian an early break but Murray inevitably broke back immediately. Another break of the Kunitsyn serve towards the end of the set helped the third seed secure victory.
Murray drawn against a qualifier in Dubai
February 20, 2010, 05:38 PM | 23 comments » add comment
Murray will find out the identity of the qualifier sometime tomorrow afternoon after the final round of qualifying has been completed.
R1 > Qualifier
R2 > Seppi or Tipsarevic
QF > Youzhny (expected)
SF > Federer (expected)
F > Djokovic > (expected)
The draw in full
UPDATE:
The qualifier has been announced as the Russian, Igor Kunitsyn who is ranked 90th.
Murray's path through the tournament has been help further by the withdrawal of top seed Roger Federer due to illness. Therefore 6th seed Marin Cilic will be the expected semi-final opponant for Murray, should they both get that far.
Murray gives tennis tips to his fans
February 19, 2010, 02:21 PM | 8 comments » add comment
Andy Murray has answered questions from his fans after previously posting a video on his Facebook page asking people to send in their questions.The Q&A session, that was also done with Murray's strength and conditioning coach Matt Little, is planned to be a regular feature on his website.
What are your top 5 mental tips?
Andy: Hmmm. Good question. I don't really think in terms of top mental tips like '1), do this and 2) do that.' For me it's about removing doubt by making sure you're as well prepared as you can be. That's why I'm happy to work really hard in training blocks, and why I work hard in practice. It's because I want to arrive at a tournament knowing I've done everything I can. That way you can just go out and play with confidence. I think that's a good way of looking at it.
The rest of the Q&A session
Can you settle an argument for me? Who in general are fitter - tennis players or footballers? I'm going with tennis players.
Matt: Always a fascinating question, when attempting to compare sports. Of course, there is a great disparity between fitness levels of both tennis players and footballers within their own sport (midfielders being fitter than goalkeepers in football, singles and doubles players in tennis). Firstly, the scientific answer. In laboratory fitness testing (VO2 Max tests), I am reliably informed by my friends in physiology, that an elite midfield footballer can expect to score up to 70 ml/kg/min. These scores are very similar to that of a top tennis player. However, if we look at the physiological requirements of the two sports, tennis players must play up to 5 matches in a week, lasting from 90 to 210minutes (even longer in Slams) and compete for 11 months of the year. As opposed to their footballing counterparts, who play 1-3 90minute matches in a week and compete 10 months in a year. Finally, the training requirements of both sports. Elite tennis players practice up to 4 hours per day and complete approximately 2 hours fitness training per day. Footballers train in the mornings and are on the golf course in the afternoon! So there you have it, my unbiased opinion on who's fitter out of footballers and tennis players!
If a player was physically well and he played a dramatic match (lasted for about 3 hours or more) and he was very exhausted, what is the best way to recover from it?
Matt: Recovery for the modern tennis player is as important as any of the off-court training they do. Getting this aspect wrong, particularly after long matches can significantly hamper a players chances of going deep into a tournament. Firstly, nutrition is vital. Within 30 minutes of finishing the match, protein and carbohydrates should be taken to re-fuel and repair tired and damaged muscles. A gentle cool down cycle or jog should be completed for 10-12mins. If the match was particularly tough, 10 minutes in the ice bath (8 degrees centigrade) is a fantastic way to flush out, the stiffness causing, acid and toxins from the muscles, as well as bring down any joint inflammation. Stretching needs to be completed, all major muscle groups, holding each stretch for 40-60 seconds and then finally rest, with a good meal rich in carbs and protein, low in fat. So now you know how much work continues after those tough matches!
What's the best way of developing a powerful serve?
Andy: The thing with the serve is not to see adding muscle and strength as the best way of getting more juice on it. It definitely helps, but the best starting point is your technique. It all starts with the ball toss - the serve all flows from there, so it's really important to be consistent. Try and stay loose on your serve too, that helps. For sure technique is more important than muscles when you're still developing your game.
What do you do to chill out after the match?
Andy: Ummm, dinner and lots of comedy DVD's! After a long match it's good to just switch off. The alternative is talking to Matt - not good.
What do you think are the most time effective exercises to increase dynamic balance for tennis and what other exercises might you add to maximize control?
Matt: As we know, all tennis players require dynamic balance to control and maintain strong body positions when hitting the ball while on the move or at the end of a fast sprint. Improvements in single leg stability have also been proven to have a very positive effect on speed and agility. The best way to improve this quality is simply to practice 'hopping and sticking', although with younger players I would begin with even simpler exercises like balancing on one leg with eyes open, then eyes shut. Hopping and sticking drills would be to hop forward starting on 2 feet and landing on 2 feet, then try starting on one foot landing on 2 feet, starting on 2 feet landing on one foot and finally starting on 1 foot, landing on 1 foot. Jumping sideways should also be trained and I find alley hops the best for this. Simply jump (facing the net) sideways from doubles tram line to singles tram line using the same sequence of steps mentioned above. The emphasis when completing these exercises, is not so much about how far you can jump, but more about how well you control and absorb the landing. So each time you land, do so on a bended knee and hold in position for a few seconds before moving on to the next jump. Complete sets of 10 repetitions for all of the jumps mentioned above.
Do Team Murray have any superstitions?
Andy: No not really. Well, other than Miles (Andy's coach). He's really superstitious. If I win a round, then we'll go back to the same practice court at the same time, and the same place for dinner. We just all go along with it!
If you and Jamie had to play a tie-break against each other with you playing lefty and Jamie playing righty, who would win and why?
Andy: Me. I actually played double handed on both sides before playing righty, and I reckon that's key. Jamie plays golf righty, but I'm still saying me for sure haha.
When you are traveling and go to places with different climates, what sort of training do you do to get used to the different weather??
Matt: Acclimatisation is definitely important to get right before you even leave the country for a tournament. Researching the temperature, time change, humidity and altitude of your next venue plays a vital role in your preparation for that event. The simple rule with this area would be, that the more extreme change in any of the factors listed above, the sooner you need to arrive at your tournament destination. Other tricks, like adjusting sleep patterns/ using altitude chambers/ light cells that replicate daylight/ saunas etc before you go can help to lessen the impact, but there's no real substitute for getting there early. Andy's recent decision to arrive in Australia early and play Hopman Cup in preparation for the Aussie Open has been well documented, and we all know how well that went!
Would you say Matt is out of condition? He looks to be carrying a bit.
Andy: I heard a rumour you're not shy of looking in the fridge yourself Phil. And I say that as someone who knows you.
Murray's video asking for your questions (1 video)
Murray withdrawal infuriates organisers
February 15, 2010, 10:39 AM | 44 comments » add comment
Tournament chief Caujolle was quoted in the Daily Express as saying:
Murray did the same thing last year. He can’t know what it is to keep his word.
A week ago, he asked me for a doubles wildcard with his brother Jamie and I gave him one. A few days ago, he asked for five hotel rooms and I gave him them.
The number one seed of a tournament should have a sense of responsibility. If he does not respect his commitments, he should be suspended by the ATP.
UPDATE: Caujolle denies calling for Murray's suspension
I never said that he should be suspended, but it's true I was really disappointed because he was my top player.
There is a responsibility for the credibility of all the game when it's a top player. Sometimes you have to force yourself and be responsible.
I understand he's quite young and it's not a huge tournament but it's quite disappointing and we had the same last year.
Last year he played in Rotterdam and was a bit injured and I understand that. He sent me an email saying next year I will play.
I understand everything but the fact is it's going to affect the tournament.
One week before, to phone and say I am not coming would have been good. In that case I could have found another player, not as good as Andy, but made an offer to Marin Cilic or someone, but it was too late.
A few minutes later Juan Martin Del Potro pulled out with a real injury so I lost my top two players.
I think the top seed and marquee player...they have to not pull out because all the promotion is framed around them.
There should be something but the ATP is working on that, it's not the fault of the ATP or even Andy. It's just life.
The Scot pulled out of the tournament citing fatigue, two weeks after losing to Roger Federer in the Australian Open final. Murray is scheduled to make a return next week in Dubai.
In other news: Murray back with Kim?
Murray has met with ex-girlfriend Kim Sears at Wimbledon, reportedly spending nearly an hour talking with each other and ending the day with a "snog". Discuss the news here.