Delighted he's not going. Putting training ahead of an awards ceremony shows he still wants to give himself the best possible chance of more success. Travelling across the globe would have been a big interruption to his preparations for domination.

I say keep the beard. The bushier the better. Beards are an alpha trait and it will assert his dominance over Nadal, Djokovic and co.

When will it be my turn for a beard 

Multislamray

THIS!

Other appropriate ones:
Slamray
Goldray
Grassray
Clayray 2.0
Backray 

Slamray looking as thick, solid, tight as ever. Can't wait to see how freakin' huge, thick, solid and tight he can get. Great motivation,

[contenders, like Milos Raonic]

Era of big 4- Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic coming to an end

By: Desh Gaurav Sekhri

Juan Martin Del Potro and Stanislas Wawrinka are legitimate threats, as they will look to finish in 2014 what they started in 2013, along with possible contenders, like Milos Raonic and Richard Gasquet. There are numerous reasons why the 'big 4's' era, or in fact the periods of total dominance by a couple of players are coming to an eventual close.

 

The big 4, well big 3 now imo, will continue to dominate all the big events next year. The rest will be luck to get one masters title between them in 2014 as usual.

Crikey this is what you call a **** negative article
From the Miami herald

Rob 92 take note!
 
BY SCOTT RILEY, SPORTS NETWORK
THE SPORTS NETWORK
Now that his 2013 season is over, what should we expect from Andy Murray next year?

The British star was forced to shut it down for the year after undergoing back surgery earlier this week.

Murray announced last week that he would skip the current Asian swing on the ATP World Tour in order to address the back problems that forced him to miss the French Open back in June.

He may have skipped Roland Garros, but that didn't stop the Scottish native from becoming the first British men's singles champion at Wimbledon in 77 years the following month.

The mighty Murray is also the reigning Olympic gold medalist, a trick he turned last year at the All England Club, which played host to the tennis portion of the wildly successful 2012 London Games.

Now the 26-year-old Murray can set his sights on the Australian Open, where he's been the runner-up three of the last four years, including this year against current world No. 1 star Novak Djokovic, who also bested the Brit in the Down Under final in 2011.

The world No. 3 Murray actually hasn't ruled out playing in the ATP World Tour Finals in London in November, although it would probably be a big risk to return so soon from back surgery, on a hardcourt no less.

Maybe he should just follow Rafael Nadal's lead, which is, take seven months off from the tour and then simply dominate upon your return. Having said that, Andy is no Rafa (13 Grand Slam titles)... at least not at this point.

Just when we thought that Murray was the best player in the world after he won Wimbledon (after all, he held the Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Olympic titles at that point), Nadal promptly re-inserted himself as the top dog on the planet by capturing just about everything in sight, including the U.S. Open a couple weeks ago.

Note: Nadal captured the U.S. and French Opens while competing in only three of the four Slams this year.

So what is Murray missing that keeps him from reaching No. 1?

Well, it's a couple of things.

Murray doesn't quite seem to be able to physically handle the grueling 11- month schedule (he's never reached a final at the prestigious season-ending Tour Finals), and he still has not peaked mentally, even under the tutelage of the great Ivan Drago, I mean Ivan Lendl. And, by most accounts, Murray still spends too much time playing PS3, just ask his lovely long-time girlfriend, Kim Sears.

Sure, Murray has the ability/skill to win any tennis tournament, with the exception of the French Open as long as Nadal and Djokovic are around and firing on most cylinders. But will he claim as many as six major titles like his good friend Djokovic? He's already 26 and has still secured only two Grand Slam titles. And Djokovic and Nadal don't appear to be going away any time soon.

So what will it take for Murray to get over the proverbial hump? He has officially surpassed Roger Federer in the current ranks inside the "Big Four," but until he's accomplished something like Djokovic has, AM still might be in the category of "slightly disappointing." And don't forget, he's still only 2-5 in his career major finals, a far cry from making him one of the game's all-time greats, which Federer, Nadal and Djokovic certainly are.

What's this clown on? How is a multiple slam, gold medal winning champion a 'disappointment'?

I fear that Andy will come second to Mo Farrah  in SPOTY simply because tennis is a minority sport whereas running is more  of a majority sport  Most of us can run even if at different speeds  and you can start as soon as you leave home whereas Tennis requires a court to play on plus racquet and balls and somebody else to play against

No way is running bigger than tennis. I doubt the average person could even name one of Mo Farah's main rivals. On the other hand everyone knows who Nadal, Federer and Djokovic are. Wasn't the Wimbledon final also the most watched event on tv this year?

Andy has this in the bag.

Ladbrokes is currently quoting Mo as 4/5 odds on, Froome 2/1 and Murray 7/1.  All the other bookies have Murray streets ahead.  Need to get a bet with Labrokes !!!!!

Think those are actually the odds for second place.

These last two weeks have very little bearing on how he'll do at the US open. In all honesty, I didn't expect that much from these two weeks. Listening to his recent interviews it is very obvious his mind is already on New York. It has been 'aiming to peak for the US open', 'try and get a few matches here to be ready for the US open.' It's clear he  just views these as warm-up tournaments so it's not worth worrying about results too much.

Verdasco. Wimbledon.  ??

You can also add Janowicz-Wimbledon, Cilic-Queens, Tsonga-Queens, Ferrer-Miami, Gasquet-Miami as other recent ones just off the top of my head.

Murray is probably the best at coming from behind in the game, doesn't mean he will do it every time though.

Not at all worried about this defeat with regards to the US open. These smaller tournaments just don't seem to get him going anymore. It's the slams that motivate him to play his best.

here, here!

Although i do have a soft spot for slamray.

Slamray was so 2012. It's Multislamray now. Get with the times.

He won it because he is the best grass courter on the planet. It is that simple.

Murray fans on MTF are turning against him...

Not me. I believe in Andy here. Murray in 4.

Great comeback from Andy. He is so mentally strong these days and even at 2-0 down I always felt there was a decent chance he would come through. With all the pressure on him, at 2 sets down lesser players might have crumbled and went away but Andy fought even harder and was extremely clutch.

As for the next match, not sure Janowicz will play better than Verdasco did today. Think Andy will also raise his game now he's been fully tested.

Neil Harman ‏@NeilHarmanTimes
Oh God. The Prime Minister has tweeted his good wishes to Andy Murray