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[fuzzyballs]

Once again, with his draw opened up in a slam, Murray fails to perform.

Australian Open: Lost to Verdasco but has beaten him handily in all subsequent meetings. Murray of course lost the one that really counted.

French Open: Played a stinker of a match against Gonzalez, spent most of the match scurrying two meters behind the baseline like a rat.

Wimbledon: Goes into the match as clear favourite, against a guy he is 6-2 up in the H2H against, and whom had just come through a well past best Hewitt in five sets. Murray like the champ he is put in his worst serving performance of the tournament, returned dreadfully, and floated back about 90% of his shots off both wings.

The media need to realise that the chances of Murray winning a slam at all now are rather low (history backs this up) and with a second serve that seems to be declining (78mph!) he's always going to come up short against a top player putting in a good performance.

It looks very much like the slams are just a step too far in terms of physical requirements and the level of the opposition (players generally put in better performances in slams that MS tournaments).

I find it amusing when people say "oh he's only 22", because the story will always be the same, "oh he's only 25/30/retired". Players have a relatively small window of opportunity in which to step up, and if they fail to take it they tend to fade into obscurity.

[Allan]

So where have you been hiding, fuzzy, in the last 6 months?

[Ghostbuster]

A relatively sensible post from you, but not entirely fair. I plan/planned on making a thread going over all the positives/negatives of this tournament, but the "great h2h against an opponent, only to lose in a slam" thing was someting I wanted to touch on and see what other people thought about. I think the next two slams are so important to Andy. It's crazy. If he wins the US, I know there will be so many people (myself included) suddenly thinking the sky is the limit and that he can win anything - and I think that will be the case. I don't want to put a number on it, but it could be very impressive. However, if he DOESN'T win either of those two, suddenly it starts looking very bleak. He'd be 23 by RG, and we can't expect the first slam to come there or, in all honesty, at Wimbledon. Wimby is going to get harder and harder every year now, especially if he isn't already a slam winner going into the tournament. By then he's 23, with just two slams left as a 23 year old. And by then we're saying what I'm saying now "ok - he needs this one". I wonder how long and how often we can do that.

This US Open is massive.

[Joe]

Has today's performance convinced you that this belief is more or less erroneous?

I like that you write off his entire career based on one defeat. You're a genius.

[fuzzyballs]

A relatively sensible post from you, but not entirely fair. I plan/planned on making a thread going over all the positives/negatives of this tournament, but the "great h2h against an pponent, only to lose in a slam" thing was someting I wanted to touch on and see what other people thought about. I think the next two slams are so important to Andy. It's crazy. If he wins the US, I know there will be so many people (myself included) suddenly thinking the sky is the limit and that he can win anything - and I think that will be the case. I don't want to put a number on it, but it could be very impressive. However, if he DOESN'T win either of those two, suddenly it starts looking very bleak. He'd be 23 by RG, and we can't expect the first slam to come there or, in all honesty, at Wimbledon. Wimby is going to get harder and harder every year now, especially if he isn't already a slam winner going into the tournament. By then he's 23, with just two slams left as a 23 year old. And by then we're saying what I'm saying now "ok - he needs this one". I wonder how long and how often we can do that.

This US Open is massive.

With Federer back to his best, Nadal looking to reassert himself and the rest of the field viewing Murray as someone against whom they have a shot in a 5 set format, I'd say his chances at the USO are very slim indeed. What happened to him today ant Wimbledon could easily happen at the USO.

[fuzzyballs]

Fuzzy!  You are here.... a much more refreshing blast than the usual.  You know it's only a matter of time..... you know it...... 

It's been 'only a matter of time' for a few years now. Time won't wait for Murray to grow a pair.

[Elly]

It's been 'only a matter of time' for a few years now. Time won't wait for Murray to grow a pair.

  You crack me up!  Seriously - you can't be real..... You're just a stalker waiting for a Murray defeat.  Does it not get a bit boring? 

[Elly]

It never gets boring because Murray never fails to fail when it counts.

I see.... and this gives you pleasure?  And if it does... why?  How can you be arsed to post on this site?