[youngj]

Lucky Loser - WTF  - are you drunk?

[Lucky Loser]

Lucky Loser - WTF  - are you drunk?

No ..I'm definitely not! can you not take any constructive  argument on board? if not what is the purpose of this site????

[ausia]

a few master 1000 titles, number 4 and also number 2, 3 GS final...this is very much. And this isn't all. I don't know if he's destinated to win a slam, i don't care. I appreciate him anyway. He's a champion but maybe he's not a super champion like Federer or Nadal. It's not important for me, i like him and his game, i simply accept him and i haven't expectations. In this world there's place for all, not only for big winners. Andy has made very importants things but it's seems that his results are nothing. He plays a lot of tournaments every years, not only these 4 slam. They are the most important but not the only ones. I'm disappointed when i read bad words, it seems that the only important thing is winning and it's not true.

[Passionanda]

People always talk about how hard it is to win your first slam title. And to be fair it is, but to be honest, I think Andy has had it worse than Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, and this is why...

Who did Federer beat to win his first grand slam? Mark Phillapousis

Who did Nadal beat to win his? Manuel Puerta

Who did Djokovic beat to win his? Tsonga.

Its all very well saying its tough to crack it at the slams, but come on, you wonder why Andy has a mental block?! He's had to play the best player of all time twice and an inspirational Djokovic. Of course, we can't put this as the sole reason why Andy hasn't won one and curse his luck, but if Federer had to play Sampras, or Nadal had to play Borg, or Novak play McEnroe or something, do you think it would have been quite as easy for them to win at the first attempt if that had been the opposition?! In other words, Andy has had to do it the hard way, and if he finally wins one, he'll deserve a lot of credit for it.

AT LAST!!! Someone who talks a bit of common sense!
Now I can go to bed and keep believing that Andy WILL win a GS one day! Thank You!

[Lucky Loser]

I've just realised I have spent the last 12 hours reading, writing and thinking about Andy's loss!! I think Im done. Its been very interesting reading everyones views though!

Bottom line we all love Andy and wish him well!! Hope to see him in Rotterdam!

Rachie, I'm with you. Sleep tight and let's all look forward to a great year of AM tennis

[Thevalley]

Time for Andy to move to plan B. The "Team Murray" concept has got him so far but if he wants to get that extra mile he will have to try something radical. Murray was quoted recently as saying he never watched his own games!  If this is really true then something is seriously wrong with his coaching setup.  This breaches one of the fundamental principles of coaching - i.e. getting feedback - he should have a coach who sits with him and analyses all his games, every shot - looking at what works and what does not. It might be tough but I think he should at least experiment with a new setup - get rid of the current crew (including Mum) and bring in a top coach. The new coach should make it a condition that Andy has to toe the line - e.g. completly change is on court body language, cut out the negative stuff as it is just wasted energy. Even if he gave it a year, if it did not work he could revert back - it might not be as much fun on tour but there might just be a slam as a reward.

[Tasmanian Devil]

Who did Federer beat to win his first grand slam? Mark Phillapousis.  Nadal? Manuel Puerta.  Djokovic? Tsonga.

This thought, amongst other things, has put today's loss in perspective for me, but it is still a shame that part-time tennis viewers (who only watch what's on the BBC, for example) yet again saw the wrong side of Murray.

I was more disappointed with his ranting than his poor performance especially after explaining to a Murray-hating friend yesterday that his uncouth days were behind him.  Maybe if he was made to watch his own matches, he would be more inclined to rein in the effing and jeffing and stop chastising himself over trivial points that other players would move on from.

Why is he so determined not to take advice from the various professionals who have offered it?  It's very frustrating.

Anyways, I just hope that he ploughs on and doesn't give himself too much time to dwell on it.  If he can pick up some Masters titles this year, it will be the best medicine.

[Aileen]

No wonder MW's server went down at the end of this little lot.  It must have been exhausted!

Have only just got round to being able to face MW again, but first - black marks to the BBC and ITV for harping on about 'the 75 year drought' and for rubbing it in that Andy's 3 GS losses have all been in straight sets.  Had my TV not been new, it might have been the object of serious g.b.h.  I expect more of this in tomorrow's press, and the way the British media excel at putting the boot in where sporting personalities are concerned, should they fail to meet their expectations, makes me very angry.

a few master 1000 titles, number 4 and also number 2, 3 GS final...this is very much. And this isn't all. I don't know if he's destinated to win a slam, i don't care. I appreciate him anyway. He's a champion but maybe he's not a super champion like Federer or Nadal. It's not important for me, i like him and his game, i simply accept him and i haven't expectations. In this world there's place for all, not only for big winners. Andy has made very importants things but it's seems that his results are nothing. He plays a lot of tournaments every years, not only these 4 slam. They are the most important but not the only ones. I'm disappointed when i read bad words, it seems that the only important thing is winning and it's not true.

Ausia I like your post, it's a breath of fresh air.

People always talk about how hard it is to win your first slam title. And to be fair it is, but to be honest, I think Andy has had it worse than Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, and this is why...

Who did Federer beat to win his first grand slam? Mark Phillapousis

Who did Nadal beat to win his? Manuel Puerta

Who did Djokovic beat to win his? Tsonga.

Its all very well saying its tough to crack it at the slams, but come on, you wonder why Andy has a mental block?! He's had to play the best player of all time twice and an inspirational Djokovic. Of course, we can't put this as the sole reason why Andy hasn't won one and curse his luck, but if Federer had to play Sampras, or Nadal had to play Borg, or Novak play McEnroe or something, do you think it would have been quite as easy for them to win at the first attempt if that had been the opposition?! In other words, Andy has had to do it the hard way, and if he finally wins one, he'll deserve a lot of credit for it.

And I like yours too.  Thanks for pointing this out.  Trouble is that so many of us, I think, just look at the present and forget what happened to other players.  I'm no psychologist, but, given how difficult Andy found his defeat by Federer last year, and at the AO as well, it maybe isn't so surprising that he fell apart mentally at this final.  He may have got over the worst of last year's AO disappointment, but I'd say that, although it wasn't the final, from the way he reacted in almost similar fashion to his loss to Nadal at the WTF when he played almost unarguably the best match of his life, that this is still very much there - in his subconscious if not his conscious mind.

Traumatic events, as last year's AO was, have an unpleasant habit of coming back and biting you when you least want them.  According to Agassi's former coach, Brad Gilbert, it took Agassi three years to get over his very narrow 1995 USO final loss to Sampras.  True, Agassi had already won 3 Slams, but his career went into a decline until 1998, when he started his comeback, winning sufficient titles to raise his ranking from No.110 to No.6.  He consolidated this by winning the 1999 FO and USO to become No.1, and went on to win 3 more Slams.  The point is, though, that Agassi only managed to make his successful comeback by changing his whole physical and mental attitude, and this is something I think Andy has to do, however painful it might be.

Time for Andy to move to plan B. The "Team Murray" concept has got him so far but if he wants to get that extra mile he will have to try something radical. Murray was quoted recently as saying he never watched his own games!  If this is really true then something is seriously wrong with his coaching setup.  This breaches one of the fundamental principles of coaching - i.e. getting feedback - he should have a coach who sits with him and analyses all his games, every shot - looking at what works and what does not. It might be tough but I think he should at least experiment with a new setup - get rid of the current crew (including Mum) and bring in a top coach. The new coach should make it a condition that Andy has to toe the line - e.g. completly change his on court body language, cut out the negative stuff as it is just wasted energy. Even if he gave it a year, if it did not work he could revert back - it might not be as much fun on tour but there might just be a slam as a reward.

For the reason stated above, I agree with you up to a point.  I can't speak for his fitness trainers Matt Little and Jez Green, but, as I think I mentioned in an earlier post, I feel that Andy has to get himself out of his comfort zone and stop faffing around with his coaching position.  Corretja is essentially a clay-courter whose 2 Slams were won at the FO, but I would think that Andy needs a coach who is an all-rounder and who has experience in coaching top 10 players - and this doesn't necessarily mean somebody who has GSs under their belt.  Brad Gilbert is a classic example, and, as somebody who did coach Andy, you may take some comfort from reading this article by him in today's Mail Online -

There's no need to panic, Andy Murray still has time on his side

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-1352014/Brad-Gilbert-Andy-Murray-time-side.html