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[blueberryhill]

He's so shy and modest, he can't say a lot.
But we can 

[laundry]

I said the same thing Gnome, Andy certainly preferred clay over grass when he was younger anyway.

[TheMadHatter]

People kept on trotting this out earlier this year. Less pressure, he'll surprise us, etc.

He's not going to win a big clay tournament until he sorts out his movement on it. Which might never happen. Movement is the biggest part of his game. When he's moving well, he much more comfortable, much more confident, and as a result, serves and plays much better and more consistent. Hence his grass court performances. On the clay however, because he still struggles with the movement around it, he makes far more errors, gets more annoyed and generally struggles. I'd say he's about quarter-final standard on clay right now, behind Ferrer and Berdych as well as the rest of the top four. Maybe Del Potro too, not sure where he is right now on clay.

He did train on clay and I understand he played a lot of clay futures when he was just starting out, but that was a long time ago. I don't think he'll ever win the French, personally. Certainly not while Rafa's around.

[laundry]

I certainly think clay is his worst surface and always will be but at the same time I've got this strange feeling that his next slam will be at the FO either in 2013 or 2014.

[Sabine]

@TMH
I agree. Andy's movement on clay is not nearly so good as his movement on the other surfaces. I looked at the way he moved on grass this year and thought "wow that's as good as Rafa moves on clay." Some compliment.
Having said that, I've a feeling Nole is going to take that clay crown this year. He does move nearly as well as Rafa on that surface and is going to be highly motivated.
More likely Andy gets AO. He has played so well out there previously, only a matter of time.

It is always close margins during AO for everyone...
Everyone comes fully geared up for the first GS and whoever is able to take the crucial points eventually wins...so Andy has to come fully prepared for that. He is gonna win it...fingers crossed!!

[TheMadHatter]

It is always close margins during AO for everyone...
Everyone comes fully geared up for the first GS and whoever is able to take the crucial points eventually wins...so Andy has to come fully prepared for that. He is gonna win it...fingers crossed!!

He's been so consistent at the AO though. Final, Final, Semi-final (losing 5-7 in the 5th). In the past three years he's gone into it with some of his best form. Twice he's fallen at the final in straight sets, largely down to his mental fragility. Then not long after Lendl came in he came within 5 points of beating Djokovic for the first time in a five setter. Now that he's clearly become much, much more stronger mentally, and has won a Slam (beating Novak in five sets) I think he's more than capable of winning he AO in the next couple of years.

[teejay1]

This is what worries me. Now he's got the monkey off his back of winning one major, he gets even more pressure in the form of expectation. I can just see the media predicting things like this, then the usual critics jumping on his back if he 'only' wins one slam next year, for instance. I wish they'd stop getting ahead of themselves, leave the pressure off and just wait and see.

I think you're right, absolutely. I'm wary of too much building up of Andy just to knock him down if he 'fails'. It is about one step at a time.

The thing is, no one knows what is going to happen. The only thing we know for sure is that Andy is playing some of the tennis of his life now, and it's good to see. He's also dealing with pressure so much better, has been all year, but it reached a peak in the USO final, and he came through. I still feel quite choked when I think about how brave he was, if that is the right word.

The only thing I would add though, is that it is quite nice to see Andy being considered a big threat for the major titles now. For a short time it was as if some within tennis were starting to write him off, going on about the gap between him, Djokovic, Federer and Nadal, as if it was huge. I never, ever thought such a gap existed, but there we are.

In a sense I think Andy has virtually always been under pressure to win slams. Well, now he has. I hope he goes in to the AO with greater confidence, the knowledge that he can play just as well, and better at times,than his nearest rivals and wanting to build on what he has acheived. That said, I don't care if the next one comes at the AO, or Wimbledon, or if he successfully defends the US title (I'd like him to do that one though, it would be fun!) because I do think it is inevitable in a sense that now he has got that first one others will follow.

I just think we are in a new phase with Andy now. Where we might have seen problems before, there seem to be possibilities. The future will be interesting to see.