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Murray’s Grand Slam Misery Continues

Sunday saw British tennis number one, Andy Murray, lose out in the final of the Australian Open against Serbian, Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic, who took the crown in the2008 Australian Open, defeated Murray in straight sets: 6:4, 6:2, and 6:3 – comprehensively outplaying his rival for the title.

For the majority of the match, Murray appeared tired and was failing to perform in the same ways that lead him into the final. The finalist also had 24 hours less to prepare for the showdown than Djokovic, following his semi final comeback against Spanish ace, David Ferrer.

On the day, nothing seemed to be going right for Andy Murray. As early as the first set, he was only making 50% of his first serves. However, the decisive moment came when the Scot was 4-5, 15-30 down and an unbelievably long rally between the finalists looked to be going Murray’s way; only for Djokovic to recover well and take the game to set point.

The game continued in a similar vein and, once losing the second set, there was no way back for Murray. He lacked the strength and agility on the court to truly test Djokovic, the world number three. The sweltering conditions in Melbourne only added to Murray’s misery – who has now lost every set he has played in a Grand Slam final.

However, although Murray was being outplayed throughout, his opponent was the outstanding player of the tournament. As previous players and pundits have stated, Djokovic took the confidence that he gained from winning the Davis Cup to Australia – even managing to beat world champion, Roger Federer in his semi final. Murray was unfortunate on Sunday; he was simply not good enough to take the title but his time will come.

Andy Murray will now have to wait until May to see if he can finally get the Grand Slam title. The French Open will start on the 23rd of the month.

Lets hope Murray can complete the job and be the first male British singles player to win a Grand Slam since 1936. But, after Britain has waited for so long, having any player reaching the final of a major tennis tournament is a great achievement in itself.

Comments

• I don’t think that we should necessarily support a tennis player because they share the same nationality as us- if so, it seems strange that we never get behind the top ranked female British player, Elena Baltacha.
  
  In any case, the English don’t often support the Scots in, say, the FIFA World Cup, and I reckon there weren’t too many Scots shouting “Come on Tim” in Henman’s heyday… And Henman wasn’t a childish stroppy mardy so-and-so.

  By Ian on 4.2.2024

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