Larry Stefanki, the coach who guided Andy Roddick to his first Grand Slam final since 2006, says Andy Murray needs to "change his mentality" and stop "playing defensive tennis" if he wants to win a Grand Slam. "I don't think Murray transitions to offence well enough. He is stuck playing defensive tennis only and, in my opinion, that was the big difference. I don't think Murray played enough offence [in his match against Roddick]," Stefanki said. "Murray's second serve was very attackable. That was the plan [for Roddick], to move in and club some second serve returns. "You have have to some offensive threat. He has developed a big serve and can move the ball from A to B as well as anybody, he just does not know when to do it." "Besides Roger Federer he is the best mover in the game. He has the best footwork and he is technically very sound. He has to change his mentality of the way he wants to play this game at the very top level. "His record is great and he is very strong-minded, and I like that, but he needs to recognise when to play offence. I don't think he sees it while he is playing right now and that's the next step for him." The coach said Murray's arsenal is well-equipped, but the next stage is in his head, getting his mindset around when to use his kit and how to mix it up. "I think he has plenty of weapons. He hits the ball as cleanly as anybody but you have to learn when to use them and unload on certain balls and I don't see him doing that," Stefanki told Radio Wimbledon. "He is going to have a great future if he gets to the point of recognising balls to attack and to come into the forecourt and play there rather than 15 feet behind the baseline. He will win a lot of slams, he is that good a mover." |
the legend
joyful rogger fedder
Monday, July 6, 2009
Roddick's coach: Murray needs to change
Friday, July 3, 2009
Murray: I'll bounce back with a slam
Andy Murray defiantly insisted his grand slam prospects are better than ever after Andy Roddick ended his Wimbledon run.The British number one was a hot favourite to beat his American rival and go on to face Roger Federer in the final, but Roddick produced one of the best performances of his life to triumph 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/5) in the semi-finals.
Murray was playing in his first Wimbledon semi-final and hoping to reach his second grand slam final, after losing to Federer at the US Open last autumn, and he put a brave face on the defeat - making this summer's US Open his next target for glory.
The 22-year-old said: "The way that I played this year it was very, very close to getting to the final.
"If I give myself those sort of opportunities and keep playing well, and my consistency in the grand slams the last year or so has been much, much better - a final, a semi and a quarter - I'm going to give myself opportunities to do it.
"I believe I can win a grand slam, whether it's Wimbledon or US Open or Australia or whatever, I'm going to give myself chances.
"I'll come back next year and try to do better."
Murray, who had beaten Roddick in six of their eight previous meetings, was happy with his performance and praised his opponent for a brilliant display.
The sixth seed's first-serve percentage was 75% - compared to only 52% for Murray - while the Scot could only take advantage of two of his seven break points in the three-hour match.
"I thought I played well," said Murray.
"If you look at the stats, I hit more winners, less unforced errors, more aces.
"I'm sure the points that we won were very, very similar. It just came down to a few points here or there on his serve.
"And he served really, really well. Hitting at that pace, at such a high percentage, sometimes there's not a whole lot you can do with that.
"The last few slams that I've lost, I've come up against some guys that have played great, great tennis.
"Mentally, for me, I've got much better at it, understanding that guys can do that against you. That's happened to me a few times now in slams.
"I need to keep making sure I bring my best game to the court in every match."
Murray has a break of five weeks until his next tournament and he insisted he will have no problem getting over today's loss.
"I'll move on very, very quickly and go and work on my game and improve and come back stronger," he said.
"That's a pathetic attitude to have, if you lose one match and you go away and let it ruin your year.
"I've had a very good year so far. I'm very close to the top of the game. The US Open I've always said is my best surface, my best chance to win a slam, and I'll give it my best shot there."
Roddick blasts past Murray
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| Three years after his last appearance in a Grand Slam final, Andy Roddick broke the hearts of the Centre Court crowd by defeating the home favourite Andy Murray in a tremendous display of intelligent tennis. Murray, not at his best, could not find a way to break down Roddick’s serve, and the American won through to the third Wimbledon final of his career 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-5) in three hours and seven minutes. He will face the five-times champion Roger Federer, to whom he lost the finals of 2004 and 2005. Roddick laid down his marker in the first set. He played with great discipline, attacking only at the right moments. Displaying an almost contradictory brand of patient aggression, he permitted Murray very little to work with. Of course the number six seed’s game was also peppered with the regulation number of aces, and serves in the neighbourhood of 140mph. At 5-4 with the set on serve, he pounced with an attacking rally to bring up 30-all, and then a beautifully judged dropshot. It was not only the first break point of the match, but set point to boot. No wonder his new coach Larry Stefanki showed his delight with enthusiastic applause. A long rally followed, with Roddick forcing the error from Murray. The set belonged to the American, and never mind that he had produced barely half as many outright winners as Murray. Both men left the Centre Court for that most useful of tennis pauses, the comfort break. But not for nothing did Murray come into this match leading Roddick 6-2 in their career encounters, including all of the last three, along with their only previous Wimbledon meeting in 2006. He was bidding to become the first British man to make the final here since 1938, and if he was frustrated by the outcome of the opening set, then it showed at once when Roddick served at the start of the second. With the first point Murray produced a thunderous crosscourt shot. Next came a narrow angled running forehand as he sprinted to reach a Roddick dropshot, to take him to 0-30 for the first time on Roddick’s serve. Then it was a backhand down the line to leave Roddick stranded, and finally a forced error to break the American to love. At 4-3 Murray almost wobbled but would not permit Roddick to convert the threat, and screamed at himself to keep it going. He did. At the start of the third it seemed Murray would repeat that early break of the second. In no time he was at 0-40 on Roddick’s serve. But crucially Roddick saved all three, the third with a great diving backhand volley that Murray could not reach. Roddick, sweat dripping from his cap, pushed on hard in the next game, threatening to bring up break point without quite managing. At 2-1 Roddick capitalised on Murray’s weak second serve, and this game soon had the feel of one that was vital for the Scot to hold on to. But he could not, although Roddick required four break points before he could finally breach Murray’s defences for 3-1. Murray was livid with himself, and became further irritated in the next game when umpire Pascal Maria gave him a warning for an audible obscenity that no one else at courtside heard. Typically of someone already irritated by other matters, Murray debated the point too long with Maria, continuing the argument during the changeover. It felt very much as if Roddick was suddenly in control, and he upped the pace even more at 5-2, pushing to break so that he could start the fourth on his own serve. Murray managed to stop that – and then out of nowhere, as Roddick was serving for the set he tightened up. Two errors and a fabulous crosscourt pass gave the Scot three break points; another error did the job and Murray punched the air, shouting: “Yes!” The set went on to a tiebreak, but Murray alternated between outrageous winners and pressured mistakes. The two traded set points before Roddick forced the mistake from Murray that gave him the set. Murray, occasionally feeling his right knee, was clearly not serving as well as he had in previous rounds. He was hanging on, but there was no getting away from the fact that Roddick was playing exceptionally well. A break point for Murray at 4-3 went by. Come the tiebreak and Roddick’s brilliant serving allowed no way through. A Murray backhand floated wide to give Roddick two match points. A fabulous passing shot form Murray saved the first but he could not rescue the second. Roddick sank to his knees, as if unable to believe events, and then generously applauded the Centre Court crowd.
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Fresh approach works for Roddick
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This time last year Andy Roddick was doubting himself. He was in a low place and questioned whether he belonged at the top of the game after suffering his earliest Wimbledon exit at the hands of Janko Tipsarevic in the second round. What a difference 12 months makes. The sixth seed is now in the Wimbledon final for the third time in his career. One might assume the American would be in jubilant spirits following his four-set victory over Andy Murray, but he was serene, suggesting that this feat had yet to be absorbed. “Last year after I played here, I mean, that was a hard, hard couple of weeks,” Roddick revealed. “Brook [his wife] and I had a lot of talks [about] if I still thought I could play and at least be towards the top of the game. I definitely openly questioned it at that point. Then the rest of the year I was kind of hurt. “So this off-season, we said, you know what, if you’re not going to be up there, let’s at least not wonder. Let’s prepare yourself and give yourself every opportunity.” So prepare A-Rod did. He committed himself to working hard and focusing on every aspect of his life from diet to sleep in order to create every opportunity to succeed. The effort is certainly paying off but Roddick refuses to get carried away, instead taking the one match at a time approach. “I’m just trying to stay the course. I’m just going about it. I haven’t really gotten too up or too down at any point this event, or this year for that matter.” And that was a tactic Roddick employed against Murray. “I knew going in that getting all hyped up and down, especially in an atmosphere that probably wasn’t going to be super favourable to me, wasn’t probably the way to go. And especially he was probably going to have the edge as far as kind of the adrenalin and the emotion. “I just wanted to stay the course. I was fully aware that there might be ups and downs. I just wanted to keep the same face regardless.” It helps that he is settled into his family life – he got married in April to Brooklyn. In fact, the 26-year-old says that Brook has a calming influence over him and it helps having her around to confide in. “It’s been real good. And she certainly makes the [guest] box better looking,” he quipped. For now, Roddick will stay focused on the next match just as he has done throughout the tournament. And he will no doubt be logging today’s victory on his Twitter page – a task he has been undertaking during the Championships. “120 gone... 8 left.... too much fun,” was posted on June 29 in reference to the amount of competitors left in the draw. “124 home...... 4 left,” read the July 1 entry. Roddick has yet to post his update tonight but we can hazard a guess at what it will say. |
calm Murray looks to future
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| The Andy Murray who fronted the press after his semi-final defeat to Andy Roddick looked and sounded very much like the Andy Murray who had beaten Stanislas Warwinka in five thrilling sets earlier in the tournament. Throughout the tournament his press conferences have been delivered in the same deep, flat Scottish brogue irrespective of the result. Nobody could ever describe him of losing his cool. But there were other signs that his 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 defeat to Roddick was different. For a starter Murray was still dressed in his tennis whites. His match finished at 6.44pm and he was at his press conference at 7pm. Like removing a Band-Aid, the world No.3 clearly did not want to drag this out. He was also more fidgety than usual. His hands played with the microphones and its cords as he answered questions from a packed interview room. “I thought I played well. I mean if you look at the stats, I hit more winners, less unforced errors, more aces. I'm sure the points that we won were very, very similar. It just came down to a few points here or there on his serve,” Murray said. “And he served really, really well. You know, very close to the lines. Hitting at that pace, at such a high percentage, I think he was high 70s for a lot of the match. Sometimes there's not a whole lot you can do with that. But definitely I didn't play a bad match. “I'll move on very, very quickly and go and work on my game and improve and come back stronger. That's a pathetic attitude to have, if you lose one match and you go away and, you know, let it ruin your year. “I've had a very good year so far. I'm very close to, the top of the game. The US Open I've always said is my best surface, my best chance to win a Slam, and I'll give it my best shot there.” And, despite what some people will suggest, he said it was not the weight of a nation’s expectations weighing heavily on his shoulders that cost him a place in the final and chance at sporting immortality. “I put obviously pressure on myself to play well. I don't think there was any sort of moments where I felt too tight to go for shots. I maybe made a couple of mistakes that I shouldn't have in the first tiebreak. But if you look at the amount of winners I hit compared to him, I don't think that I could say I wasn't swinging freely. I think I hit twice the number of winners as him.” Murray says he has learnt a tough lesson: that his opponents at Grand Slams can lift their game. He says he is mentally much tougher but there is still room for improvement. He will take a five week break until the next tournament, prepare for the hard-court season, look ahead to his favourite major - the US Open - and, most importantly, be back here next year with a chance of ending Britain’s long wait for Wimbledon glory. “I think I have a chance. And I think the way that I played this year, it was very, very close to getting [me] to the final. I believe I can win a Grand Slam. Whether it's Wimbledon or the US Open or Australia or whatever, I'm going to give myself chances.” |
Murray defeat leaves fans deflated
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| The result came too late on Friday evening for the London Stock Exchange to be affected or for sterling to slump in value, but Britain is now officially in a state of deflation – after Andy Murray’s Wimbledon’s hopes were ended at the semi-final stage by Andy Roddick. The American’s 6-4 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-5) win was fully deserved, as he cashed in on his 21 aces and a multitude of other damaging serves which eventually eroded Murray's confidence and undermined his resistance. As the last of Murray's 20 unforced errors rattled into the netting, Roddick knelt on court, the peak of his white cap touching the turf. He stayed this way for several seconds before getting to his feet and applauding the crowd's sporting acceptance of what he had just inflicted on them – and on a watching TV audience, whether at home, on Henman Hill or on No.2 Court, which had thrown open its doors for fans to watch on giant screens. All of them were of course hoping that “our Andy” could win the first of two matches which would deliver the first British Wimbledon men’s singles champion since Fred Perry 73 years ago. As a veteran American tennis writer quipped after Roddick's first tiebreak success put him in front by two sets to one, "It's gonna be 74 years now." So it is, Bud. It was Roddick's uncanny success in tiebreaks which put the final seal on his upset win. This year he has played 30 of them and, with the two he won here, his count is 26-4. For this eagerly anticipated contest, even the weather was on its best behaviour. Heavy grey clouds which had hung over Wimbledon all morning and part of the afternoon obligingly lifted and the sun graced us with a belated appearance. In the Royal Box, tea had even been forsaken for this one. And there was an apparent formality in the support for each man for obvious reasons – “C’mon Andy” would have been redundant on this occasion. Not surprisingly, the “C'mon Murray" calls comfortably outgunned the "C'mon Roddick" ones, but there was support for the American. One stentorian spectator regularly bellowed his "C'mon Roddick" from behind the media seats but in the first set the American did not need much encouraging, hammering aces in excess of 130mph and charging the net to test Murray's passing skills. In addition, the American's error count was lower and his service break in the 10th game to capture the first set was merited. To growing acclaim, Murray's early break of serve in the second set confirmed that he was back in it, thanks mainly to his ability to match Roddick in the number of aces, if not quite the speed. The American was also adept at throwing in slower serves, and that was another plus factor in his fine match play and excellent tactical plan, worked out by his coach Larry Stefanki. Murray lost the ability to keep drumming up aces in the third set and opted to mix pace with patience on his ground strokes in a bid not to offer the American pace off which he could feed. With his slower serves, some in the high 70 miles an hour range, being heavily punished the match began to drift away from him and he was not helped by receiving a warning from the umpire, Pascal Maria, for an alleged obscenity when one of his shots flew wide. At 5-2 ahead the Roddick camp must have reckoned the third set won but, in his finest spell of the match, Murray staged one of his head-on charges, snipping away at the American lead and sparking a football-type chant of "Mur-ray, Mur-ray, Mur-ray." They carried their man into the tiebreak but not through it, despite the hysteria which greeted the set point he held - but lost. Roddick had prevailed when it really mattered by upping his service speed even higher, to 138 mph on one ace. As they went deeper into the fourth set most of Centre Court was in shadow. In mourning might have been more appropriate, and when the second shoot-out came along you somehow knew beforehand which gunslinger would win it. |
Roddick sets up Federer fin
andy Roddick is reduced to his knees during his semi-final victory over Andy Murray. The home crowd was hoping for a dream “Roger versus Andy” final and they got one, but it was Mr Roddick of that ilk who came in, tore up the script and ensured that Britain’s wait for a successor to Fred Perry will stretch into a 74th year.Roger Federer certainly kept his half of the bargain, seeing off the challenge of his practice partner, the resurgent Tommy Haas, in three sets, 7-6, 7-5, 6-3. The German came into the match on a 10-game winning streak on grass having won the Halle tournament and powered through to the second week here, beating no less an opponent than world No.4 Novak Djokovic in both competitions. But he was no match for the canny Swiss, who slowly but surely raised his game throughout the tie. He put the pressure on Haas in the first set tiebreak with some strong serving – the hallmark of his game throughout the match – and when break points finally came his way at the end of the second set, he took them to double his lead. Federer dropped only 11 points on serve and cruised to victory in a shade over two hours. “The important aspect was that my service was consistent and that I managed to vary it a lot,” the No.2 seed said after the match. “I’m serving a little quicker this year and that means that when I have to, I can take a little bit off it when I need more accuracy. It means I’m not getting to many of those '30-situations' – 0-30, 15-30 or 30-30 on my own serve – which puts you under a lot less pressure.” The man charged with pushing Federer to a “30-situation” in the final is Andy Roddick after the American No.6 seed broke the hearts of 15,000 Centre Court fans, as many on “Henman Hill” and No.2 Court – where a big screen had been erected specially for the occasion – and 56m more around the UK. In truth, the Nebraska native was a step quicker than Murray all match and ran out a worthy winner, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6. The scoreline reflects how close the second semi-final was. Murray and Roddick matched each other ace for ace, but when it was not an immediate winner, the Scot’s serve was less of a weapon than previously in the tournament and meant that he was not able to dictate the rhythm of play. Murray’s second service is a good 30 mph slower than his first, and it enabled Roddick to come to the net at least twice per game and dominate his opponent. We will therefore have a remake of the 2004 and 2005 Wimbledon finals, which Federer won in four and three sets respectively. Indeed, the Swiss enjoys an 18-2 head-to-head record against Roddick and will be the red-hot favourite to secure a sixth Wimbledon title and a record-breaking 15th Grand Slam. In the boys’ singles, Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov put an end to Bernard Tomic’s title tilt in straight sets to book a place in the final against American Jordan Cox, who outlasted his doubles partner Devin Britton 16-14 in an epic final set. No.1 girls’ seed and Roland Garros winner Kristina Mladenovic, meanwhile, will face No.4 seed and 2008 finalist Noppawan Lertcheewakarn after the two cruised through. Top seeds Leander Paes and Cara Black will face Mark Knowles and Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the mixed doubles final after the two teams came through their semis in straight sets, while Sam Stosur and Rennae Stubbs will be charged with preventing a repeat of last year when the Williams sisters won both the singles and doubles titles. The Australian duo outlasted French Open champions Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual in three sets, while the sisters made ominously short work of No.1 seeds and doubles legends Cara Black and Liezel Huber, surrendering only three games in the process. | |||||
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Semi-Final Preview: Murray v Roddick
ndy Murray fires a serve at Juan Carlos Ferrero during their quarter final on Centre Court. Andy Roddick is just one game of tennis away from causing the greatest diplomatic incident between Britain and the United States since the Boston Tea Party.If Roddick is to make his first Wimbledon final since 2005 he will have to beat the world number three Andy Murray, who is one match away from becoming the first British male in the Wimbledon final since 1938. The longing for Murray to end this country’s longest sporting drought is tangible. As Roddick said after his quarter-final victory over Lleyton Hewitt, you will be able to count the American’s supporters on Centre Court on one hand. Not that Roddick will be bothered. He had a taste of being the pantomime villain when he beat Hewitt, who was urged on by his small band of fanatical supporters. "I think the crowd's going be electric. I think it's going to be a great atmosphere, and one that I can certainly appreciate, even if it's not for me," Roddick says. "I'm just going to pretend when they say, ‘C'mon, Andy’, that they mean me." If Roddick is unconcerned by the crowd, he may be worried by the formbook. Murray leads their head-to-head encounters 6-2, including victory in their only match on grass, at Wimbledon 2006. Murray has won more matches this year (45-6) than any other player except for Novak Djokovic, who lost on Wednesday, and, having won the Queen’s tournament last month, the 22-year-old is on a 10-match winning streak on grass. When told that Hewitt regarded Roddick as the underdog, the 6th seed replied: “That’s fine.” Murray is keeping his feet on the ground. He has consistently refused to speculate about his chances in this tournament beyond his next match, despite goading from the press seeking the headline: Murray says he can win Wimbledon. "I understand that I can lose the next match if I don't play my best," Murray says. "That's been one of the things that I've learned, and it's made a huge difference to me over the last year or so. I feel confident because I've won a lot of matches on the grass. But every day when I get up to play the matches, I know that I'm going to have to perform very well, and that gets the nerves and the adrenaline going and makes me play better. "Obviously Roddick, along with Karlovic, is one of the best servers in the game. So against Roddick I'll obviously need to return very well. Roddick's made two finals. He’s been number one in the world and a Grand Slam champion." Roddick has served 139 aces this tournament, with a top-speed of 141 mph and a first serve percentage of 72%. Nearly half (274/551) of Roddick’s serves this tournament have not been returned and he has won 81% of points on his first serve. "With my serve, I can give myself a chance in any match. I've been in this situation many times," Roddick says. "I'm not gonna predict anything. I'm going to have to play well, and hopefully he would probably say the same. You know, so we'll get to it." |
Murray's my man, says Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt keeps his eye on the ball during his 5 set quarter final against Andy Roddick. Andy Murray will beat Andy Roddick and become the first British man in a Wimbledon singles final since 1938 - that's the prediction of Australian battler Lleyton Hewitt, the last man to prevent a Briton reaching that stage. That was in 2002, when he beat Tim Henman in the fourth of the Briton's four semi-finals. Hewitt went on to win the title that year and, seven years later, he is still very much on the scene, only bowing out of this year's Championships after a five-set quarter-final thriller against Roddick. So he is the perfect man to assess whether Roddick can stop the Murray bandwagon and his considered answer is that it is unlikely. While he points out that while Roddick is one of the "best grass court players out there", the American will clearly be the underdog in the duel in his view. He said: "I think it’s going to be a tough one for Roddick to win. When I’ve seen Andy Murray at his best, I think he matches up extremely well against Roddick." The statistics also speak for themselves. The boy from Dunblane has beaten A-Rod on six of their eight meetings - including at Wimbledon 2006 - and at No. 3 in the world Murray is ranked three places above him. And Hewitt's final point of view? “It’s going to be an interesting match. A couple of years ago I saw them play here because they were in my section and Murray took care of him convincingly. "And Murray’s a lot better player now than he was then. Roddick’s going to have to play a hell of a game to beat him.” |
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Murray swats away 'mosquito'
Juan Carlos Ferrero fighting to stay in his match against Andy Murray on Centre Court. The player known as “the mosquito” was on the receiving end of a painful sting from Andy Murray as the number three seed beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 on Centre Court. The authoritative victory over the former world number one puts Murray through to his first Wimbledon semi-final. In the first set it seemed that Ferrero was intent on avoiding a repeat of their one career encounter to date, last month at Queen’s where Murray wrapped up a simple straight sets victory. True, the Spaniard had a couple of jitters at the outset, and he pushed a half-volley long to give Murray an early chance to break. But the chance went by. Oddly at this stage many rows of the Centre Court were empty, with some in the crowd permitting themselves a short break from the sizzling July heat after witnessing Roger Federer’s earlier victory over Ivo Karlovic. Murray was winning his serve with ease, and Ferrero was having to work much harder to hold on to his. But nonetheless the Spaniard was playing a canny game. As late as 5-5 it seemed possible he could snatch the set. With Murray seeming a little heavy after his marathon Monday night victory over Stanislas Wawrinka, the loss of the set could have been an important blow. But it didn’t happen. At 5-6 Ferrero left the court open for a Murray passing shot. One point later the Scot got a lucky netcord, and he then he brought up set point at 40-30 with a powerful crosscourt forehand that left his opponent stranded. That one went by, but a backhand return brought up another opportunity, whereupon Ferrero delivered his first double fault of the day. Early in the second, it all seemed to be going wrong for Murray. In the first game Ferrero produced a forehand crosscourt winner to bring up two break points. The Scot pulled out his fastest serve – 132mph – of the tournament so far to rescue the first. But when he put a backhand in the net on the second, the game and the break belonged to the Spaniard. The turning point came out of the blue with Murray at 1-3 deuce, when he won an astonishing 20 of the next 21 points. He was helped by the 2003 Roland Garros champion delivering his second double fault of the match at exactly the wrong moment to put the set back on serve, but a newly energised Murray was making no mistakes and a deflated Ferrero could not stay with him. Ferrero has enjoyed a resurgence this year. He was given a wild card here on the basis of his ranking of 115 in May. But a good Roland Garros took him to number 70, and before this match he was assured of a spot in the top 40 when the new rankings come out next Monday. For Murray the stakes are higher. He can take the number two spot from Roger Federer by winning the title here – and if he does, he will be a mere five points short of Rafael Nadal’s tally at number one. Ferrero, who has never made the last four at Wimbledon, needed to state his case early in the third set if he was to stay in the match. Instead, break point chances were coming Murray’s way. Ferrero delivered a delightful dropshot to save the third of these at 2-2. But a fourth was too much and Murray converted it with a forehand that he made look straightforward. He was playing so briskly between points that it was clear he wanted to spend as little time as possible baking beneath the sapping heat of the Centre Court. Moreover, he was overwhelming Ferrero on the Spaniard’s serve, and broke him to love for 5-2. In the end he required just one hour and 41 minutes to complete a comprehensive victory.
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Murray surprised by roof decision
Andy Murray has said he was surprised by the All England Club's decision to play his fourth round match with Stanislas Wawrinka under the Centre Court roof. Murray only found out that his fourth round meeting with the Swiss No.2 would be played under the new roof , when the Dinara Safina v Amelie Mauresmo match finished. “To do the warm-ups right beforehand you knew it was dry,” said Murray. “We were expecting to play without the roof, and then obviously it came. "I was surprised because we'd asked: 'When are you gonna let us know if we're gonna play under the roof or not?' They said they would let us know as soon as the match was finished. And then, you know, it's quite tough as well to judge. “I had never played a grass court match indoors before and it made a difference.” Murray looked out of sorts as Wawrinka adjusted to the high temperatures better and the Swiss took the first set 6-2. “It was very, very heavy and very humid. I was sweating so much,” he said. “I know it was hot outside today, but I was sweating a lot inside. I noticed it very early. Both of us were trying to get white towels from the locker room because our hands were drenched. When I finished it felt like I'd been in a bath. “There was a lot more rallies in that match. I got very few free points from my serve when it did go in. You can really swing very hard at the ball and it can go into the net or no-where at all. It's very different.” But Murray recovered from his slow start to take the next second and third sets. Despite a Wawrinka comeback in the fourth set, the 3rd seed had enough left in the tank to see out the match in the deciding set. That prompted Murray to declare: “I believe I can win Wimbledon.” The man from Dunblane, who plays Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, added: “That's not changed since the first match. But I'm going have to play great tennis to do it. I had to play some great tennis tonight to come back, because Stan was playing some unbelievable tennis at the start.” And Wawrinka agreed that Murray has what it takes to triumph on Sunday. “He's playing very well, especially on grass and has improved a lot the last 12 months," Wawrinka said. |
Murray the prince of darkness
Murray is through to the quarter-finals 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 for the second year running – but it was close. Too close for comfort. They had begun in brilliant sunshine, although with the roof closed, but by the time they were done it was 10.38pm and the Centre Court glowed bright like a vast spaceship in the heart of SW19. Never before had a match finished so late at Wimbledon, never before had we had a night crowd on Centre Court – the All England Club had entered a new era and Murray had led them there. For the crowd, though, this was more like the old days, the Tim days, the days when tennis was best viewed from under the chair with the hands over the eyes. The teatime terrors of Tim had the whole country on tenterhooks for a decade although it did wonders for the beauty trade. After a fortnight of the nation chewing its nails down to the knuckles, the manicurists used to mop up after Wimbledon. With Murray, it has been different. Well, until he gets to the fourth round, that is. Even when the Scot lost the second set against Robert Kendrick in his opening match, there was never a feeling that he might lose. But when he dropped the opening set to Wawrinka, everyone gulped. This was not the same player who had thrashed Ernests Gulbis and marmalised Viktor Troicki. And when 15,000 people gulp in unison under the roof, the sound does little to settle the nerves. But Murray is an experienced campaigner these days. Where once he would have fretted if everything started to go wrong, now he digs in and finds a way to get through it. "When I don't feel like I can play my best, there's other things that I can do rather than just hitting a tennis ball," Murray said, "like chasing more balls down than I could before and getting as many balls back as possible. Mentally, I'm a lot stronger. When I'm not playing my best, my mentality is always 'right now'. I always feel like I can get back into matches, or work my way back into matches. Whereas in the past I would be playing badly and I would continue playing badly the whole match. "Now, if I'm playing badly, I can find ways of turning matches around and winning and playing well when I need to. Those are sort of things that have got better. In terms of ball-striking and stuff, that’s not really changed. It's just the mentality and the physical side that’s won me a lot of matches." Unfortunately for Murray, Wawrinka was playing differently "in terms of ball-striking and stuff" than he had been in the earlier rounds. The Swiss has a game built around power: a big serve and thumping ground strokes on both sides and, as he faced Murray, all three shots were deadly. Where on Saturday he had struggled past Jesse Levine, the American qualifier, now he was playing out of his skin.The serve was going like a bullet, the sweeping backhand was doing damage and the forehand was rifling into the corners. And, in a shock development, he was attacking the net. At the other end, Murray's play was tentative and his body language gave every indication that something was not quite right. Whatever it was, it was not a huge problem, but Murray was not himself. That is where the Scot's secret weapon came into play. As he struggled and grimaced, so the 15,000 sensed they just might be needed. So when he won his first game of the match after 24 minutes, he got a big cheer. When he unleashed one of his trademark flashing forehand cross-court winners, played on the run and with extra venom, he turned to the crowd and asked them to cheer louder. So when he broke serve a few minutes later, the assembled throng tried to raise the rafters. Careful lads – those rafters cost a fortune. And so it went on – Andymonium was building to a crescendo while Wawrinka was beginning to look rattled. He had the trainer on to massage some life back into his legs but it did not seem to do the trick as Scotland’s finest sometimes coaxed and sometimes bludgeoned the Swiss into errors. Normal service had been resumed by the world number three and everyone began to relax. Yet Wawrinka was not finished yet. He suddenly found a second wind in the fourth set and started leathering the ball for all he was worth. The level and quality of the hitting between the two men was at times astonishing and Switzerland’s second finest player was elbowing his way back into contention. He was running like a whippet to chase everything down and punching like a heavyweight. And when Murray missed a forehand on break point that would have given him a 5-3 lead a fifth set seemed inevitable. Stan the Man was not going to let him forget that missed opportunity. By this stage the crowd was almost exhausted but the two combatants were still fighting tooth and nail. Murray broke and led 3-0. Wawrinka broke back and levelled for 3-3. And then Murray earned his first standing ovation of the night, breaking to lead 5-3 as his faithful supporters screamed themselves hoarse. When he finally sank to his knees after three hours and 57 minutes, the Centre Court roar could be heard for miles. And to think – we have all of this to go through again in two days' time when Murray plays Juan Carlos Ferrero. |
Murray stays calm in face of hype
Andy Murray dives for the ball during his quarter-final match against Juan Carlos Ferrero. Andy Murray’s fanbase is growing, to judge by his celebrity correspondence. After receiving goodwill messages from the Queen and Sir Sean Connery in the last few days, this morning brought a handwritten good luck note from Sir Cliff Richard for the number three seed. And it clearly did the trick, judging by his comprehensive quarter-final victory over former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero.“The second and first sets were very good,” Murray said afterwards. “The first set I served very well but made quite a lot of mistakes from the back. Hit the ball pretty short. Not that many long rallies today, which was nice. The court was playing quickly so I got a lot of free points on my serve. In the second I lost one point from 1-3 deuce. Started to serve better, hitting my returns a lot harder, starting to read his serve better.” For his part, Ferrero was chiefly struck by the sheer speed of that second set turnaround. “In 10 minutes he beat me,” said the Spaniard. “Everything happened so fast in the second set. At two sets to love, it was difficult for me to come back. Physically I felt tired at the end. He seemed a little bit tired at the beginning after long rallies but he handled it very well. He was very aggressive. He’s serving very well, moving well on the grass. So he could win the title, yes.” Gunning for his first Slam crown, on domestic soil to boot, Murray is naturally the subject of a lot of media excitement. But he is sanguine about it. “The hype doesn’t make any difference to the way you perform,” he shrugged. “If you work in the media and spend your whole time reading the papers, watching everything on the TV, everything getting said on the radio, then you get caught up in that. But if you ignore it, you don’t realise it’s happening. So I just stay away from it.” And that is probably why he had a sensible answer when asked if he feels “unstoppable” now. “No,” said Murray flatly. “I understand I can lose the next match if I don’t play my best. That’s been one of the things that I’ve learned, and it’s made a huge difference to me over the last year or so. I feel confident because I’ve won a lot of matches on grass. But every day I know I’m going to have to perform well, and that gets the nerves and adrenaline going and makes me play better.” He feels there are similarities whether he plays Andy Roddick or Lleyton Hewitt in his semi-final. (Their quarter-final was incomplete at the time of Murray’s press conference.) “Roddick is one of the best servers in the game, while Hewitt is one of the best returners,” he observed. “So against Roddick I’ll need to return very well, and against Hewitt it’s more important that I serve well. But both are obviously very tough. Hewitt’s won here. Roddick’s made two finals. Both have been number one in the world and both are Grand Slam champions. Both are going to be tough.” | |||||
Day 9 Preview
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In keeping with the interest that the men's game is attracting these days, the line-up for this afternoon's quarter-finals at the 2009 Championships is a richly varied one. Eight places, eight countries represented - from Switzerland, home of the five-time champion, Roger Federer, on through Australia (Lleyton Hewitt), the United States (Andy Roddick), Spain (Juan Carlos Ferrero), Germany (Tommy Haas), Serbia (Novak Djokovic), Croatia (Ivo Karlovic) and, finishing with a triumphant tootle on the trumpet, Andy Murray of Britain. Andy was last spotted, about 10.40pm on Monday, on his knees on the Centre Court turf, very tired but a happy bunny. He had skewered the robust challenge of Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka and is now looking forward to the possibility of smiling across the net at another Swiss, one Roger Federer, on Sunday afternoon. A couple of other hurdles would precede such an outcome, of course, and the first one crops up in today's second match on the very Centre Court that has been Andy's home for 10 days now. If anyone had forecast before the tournament began that Murray would fetch up against Spanish opposition in the last eight, the presumption would have been that Rafael Nadal was that man, the very same Spaniard who blighted Andy's life at this same stage a year ago. Dodgy knees having removed Rafa, however, the Iberian ticket for today's match has been picked up by Juan Carlos Ferrero who, if he hasn't done so already, should consider penning a note of thanks to the good folk at the All England Lawn Tennis Club who offered him a wild card, thereby already making him £106,250 richer as a quarter-finalist. The card was offered, presumably, on the strength of this 29-year-old's place in the last eight of the 2007 Championships and, much more importantly, his annexing of the Roland Garros title in 2003. That this was done on clay is deemed to be irrelevant. A Grand Slam champion is a Grand Slam champion, for all that. How marvellously Ferrero has responded to the gesture, dropping just three sets in four victories which included the eighth and 10th seeds, Gilles Simon and Fernando Gonzalez. Now he comes up against the lad who has assumed the mantle of Hope of the Nation from Tim Henman. Ferrero was just 23 when he won the French Open, so he will be familiar with the 22-year-old Murray's hopes and concerns, although he won his Slam away from home, whereas Andy is very much on home turf and wearing the sponsored clothing of the company that bears the name of the last British champion, Fred Perry, 73 years ago. The two crossed rackets quite recently, in the semi-finals of the AEGON Championships at Queen's Club, with Murray winning 6-2, 6-4. So a marker has been laid down and Murray will be hoping that his labours this afternoon will be as rewarding as they were on Monday night under the lights and the roof, but involving considerably less expenditure of sweat. Karlovic is the master blaster of the service action and has not dropped serve so farFerrero is one of five former Grand Slam champions in today's last eight, a remarkable number that has not happened at Wimbledon since 1993. In addition to Ferrero there are Federer, with 14 of them to his name, Hewitt (Wimbledon 2002 and US Open 2001), Roddick (US Open 2003) and Djokovic (Australia 2008). In addition, four of those five have seen number one written alongside their name, Djokovic being the only exception here. And Djokovic is aligned with Ferrero as someone who has yet to win a grass championship. Federer, in pursuit of his sixth Wimbledon and, with it, a record-breaking 15 Grand Slam titles, goes on to the firing range where the giant dealer of aces, Ivo Karlovic, awaits him in the Centre Court opener. Unlike many, Federer has shown a heart-warming ability to handle the rockets that the 6ft 10in Karlovic delivers from on high, having won eight of their nine previous matches. But in the 22 sets played, no fewer than 12 went to the tiebreak. Karlovic is appearing in his first Grand Slam quarter-final, having lost in Wimbledon's first round for the past four years, though he will long be remembered as the man who halted the defending champion, Hewitt, in his tracks on the opening day here in 2003. The Croatian is the master blaster of the service action and has not dropped serve so far in 79 service games in his four matches. Those four contests have produced 137 aces for Karlo and he will be anxious for further progress, if only to challenge the Wimbledon aces record held by his compatriot Goran Ivanisevic who hit 212 en route to the title in 2001. The Roddick-Hewitt set-to on No.1 Court promises to be a humdinger. Hewitt leads 6-5 but Roddick has won their past four matches, including Queen's three weeks ago. Both men are expert practitioners on grass, Roddick's is the heavier serve but Hewitt's is arguably the bigger heart. It promises to be memorable, with the American rediscovering his form this year under the coaching of Larry Stefanki and Hewitt battling his way back up the rankings following hip surgery last year. Djokovic and Haas also met recently on grass, in the Halle final, and the German was the delighted victor in his homeland, though he spends his time at Bradenton, Florida, where he attended the Bollettieri Academy from the age of 11 and liked it so much he never left. He is now 31, the oldest man left in the last eight, and opposes the youngest in Djokovic, who is just 22, and exactly one week younger than Murray. |
Murray through after late-night thriller
Andy Murray after he won his fourth round match with Stanislas Wawrinka. The match ended at 10.38pm. The first match to be played in its entirety under a closed roof at Wimbledon turned out to be a classic as well as a marathon as Andy Murray staged a dramatic recovery to defeat Stanislas Wawrinka in five sets, 2-6 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-3, and gain a place in the quarter-finals for the second successive year. It took him just under four hours of draining commitment against a dogged and occasionally inspired opponent before, as his final forehand winner sped clear of Wawrinka's flailing racket, he fell to his knees in a mix of relief, joy and exhaustion. As he said immediately after the match, a deep sleep is now very much in order before he returns on Wednesday to face Spanish wild card Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter-final. The 3rd seed, under relentless pressure to become the first British player to win the Wimbledon men's crown for 73 years, had been in serious trouble early on against Wawrinka, the 24-year-old Swiss Davis Cup player who is seeded 19th. These two men are good friends and regular practice partners, but there was nothing friendly about the fashion in which Wawrinka went after Murray in that opening set, serving brilliantly and hammering ground strokes which reduced Murray to frustration. Murray was broken in the very first game and, to the dismay of the packed Centre Court, surrendered serve again as Wawrinka surged into a 4-0 lead. There was no reprieve as Wawrinka served out the set in 34 minutes and again launched into the Scot's serve in the second set. Perhaps the crucial moment of the match came in the fifth game of the second set, with Murray fending off a couple of break points and taking a massive boost from the upsurge of crowd support. Two games later Wawrinka called for the trainer, although he had not appeared in any obvious distress, and had his left thigh massaged. The treatment and delay may have alleviated any hurt, but it only served to inspire Murray. As the Swiss serve began to lose its pace and bite, the Scot pounced. He reached break point twice and the second time made it count as Wawrinka sent a backhand out of court. Serving out for the set to level the match was no problem with Murray in this mood and he clinched it with his second ace. The third set was a virtual repeat for Murray. Having fought off three break points in the fifth game, he immediately broke the Swiss, who put an easy forehand volley wide. Though he was not serving anywhere near his best at this stage, Murray was getting by on a rich mix of grit and skill and when he took the third set the momentum was clearly with him. Wawrinka took a toilet break in order to regroup and it seemed to do the trick. He was a threat to the Murray superiority in the fourth set, missing break points in the seventh and ninth games before capturing the Murray serve to lead 6-5. Before long, he had leveled a gripping match which was now being played under lights. The record for a late Wimbledon finish had long ago been shattered. Could Murray hold on in the fifth set? The crowd hoped so and Murray clearly thought so, going 3-0 ahead. But back came Wawrinka to level at 3-3 and at this stage the match could have swung to either man. In the end it fell Murray's way as, to a constant uproar, he had the Swiss on the defensive and broke for a 5-3 lead on his third break point. It was a nerve-racking time to serve out for a place in the last eight but Murray was up to it. That his nerves were also up to it was shown by the exquisite drop shot which put him two points from the match. He got to match point on a ball which clipped the baseline and then came that winning forehand.
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Preview: Murray v Ferrero
Before this tournament began, there was much staring into teacups and reading of leaves, much reading of runes and consulting of oracles – could this be the year? Are the stars aligned in such a way that Britain could finally produce its first home-grown winner in 73 years. Can Andy Murray win Wimbledon? To be fair, it was exactly the same in the days of Henmania (remember that?). And every year it made not one jot of difference – Tiger Tim never made the final and we all sighed and waited for next year. There must have been a bad moon rising. But there is one pointer, one coincidence, one little fact that seems to have been overlooked by the over-excited locals: the last wild card entrant to reach the quarter-finals was one Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia in 2001. Not only that, but he went on to crush the nation’s hopes by beating Henman in the semis before claiming the title for his own. This year Juan Carlos Ferrero is the wild card entry in the quarter-finals and this year the same Ferrero will play Murray for a place in the semi-finals. The two have met only once before. Just under three weeks ago, they faced each other in the semi-finals of the Queen’s Club tournament and Murray won with reasonable ease 6-2, 6-4. But one match is not enough to judge how they will both shape up in a Grand Slam, especially at this stage in the competition where the stakes are rising round by round and the pressure is mounting by the hour. Murray was certainly looking relaxed as he recovered from his late night epic on Monday with Stan Wawrinka. After a good night’s sleep – he didn’t waken until 10am – he went through the usual routines of a little practice, an ice bath and a trip to the physio to have any aches and pains seen to and then it was home to get as much rest as possible. But however well he feels he is recovering and however much support he will get from the Centre Court crowd, Murray is not taking anything for granted. Ferrero may be 29, he may be ranked 70 in the world and he may have spent the past year struggling with a string of injuries, but he is still not to be taken lightly. “He’s a former world number one, Grand Slam champion, got to the quarters here in the past,” Murray warned. “He’s in the quarters again this year and he’s beaten some tough players to get there. He was in the semis at Queen’s and I managed to beat him there but I’m going to have to play very well to beat him.” 'Murray is at home and he wants to win and everybody wants him to win'Ferrero, for his part, is simply happy to be here. After a miserable 2008 when it seemed that every bit of him ached, complained and seized up, he is relishing a decent run at last. The fact that it has come on grass, historically not his best surface, just adds to the enjoyment. He is feeling a little bit more comfortable on the green stuff than he was at Queen’s and the 15 sets it has taken him to get to the last eight have honed his game to deal with the vagaries of grass. All in all, Ferrero is as ready as he can be – bring on Braveheart. “I think right now I'm with a little bit more rhythm than that week,” he said. "And, of course, after the match I play against him, I learn something. That is, I have to do my job, be aggressive all the time, because he likes to play in one level, and then he change the rhythm very fast. So as the crowd prepares itself for another round of oohing, ahhing and cheering, Ferrero is keeping his head down. He knows that history has been known to repeat itself and that, for an old bloke with a long history of injury, Ivanisevic made the most of his wild card. “I would like to repeat what he did,” Ferrero said. “But, of course, it's a little bit difficult yet to say. I'm pretty happy about the wild card and happy about the game that I'm playing.” |
Murray roarsMonday, June 29, 2009
Murray happy to let others get excited
Andy Murray thrills fans during his third round win over Serbia's Viktor Troicki In case you haven’t noticed, Andy Murray is through to the fourth round of Wimbledon. That means he has won three games of the seven he needs to become Wimbledon champion. That means he is into the second week of The Championships. That means, if you are British, especially a member of the British media, you can get as excited as you want. Just don’t expect the level-headed Murray to join in that excitement with so much of the job still to be done. As he explained at the press conference following his romp to victory over Viktor Troicki: “The expectation for me is I'm going to try my best to win the tournament. But it's the people that are in the media, in the press, and the people that read it who are the ones that see the expectation getting bigger or greater. “It's just one of those things you have to get used to dealing with. It hasn't troubled me this week. I'd be very surprised if it did next week." Murray’s opponent on Monday is Stanislas Wawrinka, the 19th seed. Murray leads 4-3 in head-to-head encounters, but since 2008 that record is a more lop-sided 4-1 in Murray’s favour. The pair have never met on grass. Wawrinka is also a regular practice partner of Murray’s. However, the Scot said that will not change his approach to the match. “I think when you go on the court you're there to compete, regardless of whether you're friends or not. It doesn't change the way you go into the match,” Murray said. “You kind of know each other's games a little bit better than you might know some of the others that you don't hit with and you don't see around that much. But won't make a difference on Monday, I don't think. “He's a very solid all court player. He's got a solid serve. He moves well, is good off the baseline. He doesn't come to the net too much. But when he does, I mean, he won the Olympic gold doubles, so he can obviously volley reasonably well. “He does everything good. He doesn't have one shot in particular that's a huge weakness. I'm going to have to play a tough match to beat him.” When asked to rate his performance over the first week, Murray said his performances were “pretty solid” and he was “very happy” that he had won his three matches. He added he was “slightly more comfortable this year than last year”. His philosophy is a simple one, but if it pays off it will bring huge rewards. “It's just about winning the matches. I don't feel any different to how I did at this stage last year. You just try and win a match every couple of days, and that's really the goal. I don't think anything different.” | |||||
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