[Aileen]

Something a bit brighter instead of the non stop doom and gloom currently

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/may/27/andy-murray-french-open-rafael-nadal-novak-djokovic

Thanks Gnome.  Very much appreciated!

[Aileen]

It's a shame that the article was slightly ruined by Mitchell thinking Wawrinka beat Alexander Zverev instead of Mischa in Geneva. You'd think a guy who gets paid to cover tennis would get that right.

Particularly as Alexander wasn't even playing last week.  I admit I didn't notice the error first time round, but I agree that, given some of the howlers sports journalists have made in the past, they should make sure their facts are right before rushing into print.  It also points to poor Editorship as well, because in theory they should be double-checking the facts, as well as looking for poor spelling and grammar, otherwise why bother employing them?

[Aileen]

Like Aileen I had wished that Andy would simply withdraw from RG to allow his body to recover from the shingles etc - recommended also by Greg R.  While Andy may now be admitting to lack of motivation, it's quite possible that is in fact in part at least a reflection of his physical problems.  If his body isn't doing what he wants it to do and he's lethargic, that is very likely to have a mental/emotional impact.    There have been many times when Andy  has found it difficult to remain motivated for non-slam tournaments but getting to no 1 shouldn't have affected his basic motivation which is to win more slams.  I just think getting to no 1 took too much out of him and I suspect in retrospect he and his team now realise he should have taken a proper break after that amazing achievement.  I blame Lendl for not having the wisdom to ensure he did that and instead putting him through a particularly  gruelling training block.  So I don't think Lendl is the right person to bring him through this difficult time.

I blame Lendl too for putting him through that, and agree he is not the right sort of coach to have just now.  In fact as I've said all along, I think it would have saved Andy a great deal trouble had he skipped Oz altogether, then he could have done his training in January, but as Andy is so keen to win the AO I feel that that would have been akin to trying to stop the tide coming in.

[Aileen]

I think skipping AO altogether would have been asking too much Aileen and he knew he had a month off after that so I guess he thought he'd take the rest then.  But in retrospect I agree now with those on here who argued he shouldn't have played the lead up expo and tournament.   Andy has an extraordinary work ethic and it needs older, wiser heads  to save him from himself at times.  So even if Andy was champing at the bit to train hard so soon after the end of an amazing but gruelling season, Lendl should have reined him back. 

I certainly do think playing Abu Dhabi and Doha was a big mistake.  He could have gone to Oz later and played a couple of exhos at Kooyong.

[xxdanixx]

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I love that Andy is such a decent guy. He really is a truly good person.

[Ruthie]

I was really pleased to see Andy  being willing to criticise Court.  But Aileen this argument that it's her personal opinion (used by a number of people) isn't valid in my view because she's made it a public issue by saying she will boycott Quantas.  it's no longer just her personal opinion - she is trying to influence the policies of a company.  So I think it's valid for some people to be arguing that the court's name should be changed. 

[blueberryhill]

Court is a horrible bigot. She can't help what she thinks but she can certainly keep her prejudiced thoughts to herself.