Upbeat Murray playing ‘great tennis’

On THE journey from the Big Apple to Braehead Andy Murray has had plenty of opportunity to contemplate his place in the tennis firmament. While the wind nearly tore the media tent from its mooring by the Clyde yesterday the Scot sitting inside was being breezily upbeat about his prospects, stating that he is playing “great tennis”.

After five semi-final appearances in his last six Grand Slam tournaments, the most recent being just last weekend, Murray sees no reason to make any drastic changes to his game.

The Scot was in Glasgow by Tuesday night following his four-set US Open semi-final defeat to Rafa Nadal. It left some observers fearing that Murray is fated to be an eternal nearly man. The Scot scoffed at this suggestion yesterday as he prepared to go again tomorrow, with Murray the key component in Great Britain’s Davis Cup team for a Group Two promotion play-off match with Hungary.

The withdrawal of Hungary’s top player Adam Kellner has buoyed British hopes. However, it is Murray’s presence for a second consecutive match – he helped Britain sweep aside Luxembourg in July at the same Glasgow venue – which has lifted not only spirits, but also helped raise the profile of the clash.

As captain Leon Smith said, any country in the world would be delighted to have Murray leading their team. However, there remains the hope that one day the GB side will be able to boast of a Grand Slam winner in its midst, and though Colin Fleming, Jamie Baker, James Ward and Ross Hutchens are on an upward curve, Murray is the likelier wearer of this crown.

He remains within touching distance of a major title having reached four consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals, but last week, at his favoured US Open, he again fell short when up against Nadal. He managed to catch snatches of the final en route from New York to London, from where he travelled to Scotland on Tuesday.

“I’ve had the last four days pretty much to think about my semi-final defeat,” said Murray. “I watched bits of the final. I saw from the middle of the third set where they [Djokovic and Nadal] both played some great tennis. I thought they played well up until the injury time-out and then I thought the standard dropped a lot after that.”

He hasn’t been left too downcast by the defeat to Nadal and he clearly believes that some minor adjustments could see him take the leap made by Djokovic. Just a year ago the world No 1 was himself dealing with disappointment after falling at the US Open final to Nadal. Djokovic returned to his native Serbia to take part in a Davis Cup clash, leading his country to victory over Czech Republic. He has barely stopped winning since. Murray noted the advice Djokovic was given last year, which basically amounted to changing everything and starting again.

“When you actually look at it he has stuck with the same guys he always had, he has just improved year upon year,” said Murray. “He went through a bad patch where he was serving badly and where he tried to make a change to his game and that messed him up.

“Anybody suggesting that I should make huge changes, it’s not really the way to go forward,” added Murray. “You need to keep moving forward and building. When you try and make drastic changes at the top of sport it messes with your mind set quite a lot, and mentally you will struggle because the differences are so small.” Murray is alert to the size of task he has if he is to overhaul those operating at the very top of the game. When once he had only two titans of the game to consider, now, possibly, there are three.

“I think I am playing great tennis,” he said. “I don’t know if I will ever have a year like Novak’s had. Only one or two people in history have done that.

“You have guys [Nadal and Roger Federer] playing at the top of the game now who are two of the best who have ever picked up a racket. And Novak has just had the best year ever in tennis. Just because I have been a touch behind that there’s no reason to panic. What should I do? Should I do something different? What should I change? That’s not the recipe for success in anything, to panic.”

Murray’s short-term goal, as well as helping Great Britain into Group 1 of the Europe/Africa zone, is to maintain his current place as No 3 in the world. “This year I’ve got to try and finish ahead of [Roger] Federer, and I am ahead of him on points so far,” he said.

First, though, comes this challenge in a shopping complex by the Clyde. Murray broke down in tears on his last appearance here in a Davis Cup fixture. He doubts there will be such a strong reaction this time around. “It was the first time I’d played in Scotland since I was 15 and first time I’d played Davis Cup with [brother] Jamie so there were a lot of factors,” he said. “It won’t be the same this time around.” However, Murray has again paid for school pupils from Dunblane to attend.

Meanwhile, Oliver Golding, who last weekend became Britain’s first male junior grand slam champion since Murray lifted the same trophy in New York in 2004, will act as an “orange boy” over the three days of competition at Braehead, fulfilling training and support duties for Murray and the rest of the team.