Andy Murray In The French Open 2011

First topic message reminder :

Wow the tennis gods have decided to be kind to Andy Murray this year in Paris. Andy Murray faces french qualifier Eric Prodan, if everything goes to script Andy's 3rd round opponent could be big hitting up and coming young gun Milos Raonic and if Andy goes deep into the draw potential quarter finalist could be Roger Federer's conquerer in Monte Carlo World No.8 Jurgen Melzer. If Murray manages to make it to the semi's, the man standing in the way will be 5-time champion and King of Clay one Rafael Nadal. There is no question why Andy Murray should not be considered a favourite at Roland Garros. There are players above him as favourites, the Nadals, Federers and Djokovics and rightly so. Murray though has found a rhythm to his game on clay and has certainly had the best run on clay since becoming pro and looks like he is over his Australian Open heartache. Another important part of Andy Murray's French Open campaign is his box. Will Darren Cahill be there? That for me is a big deal because if he can work with Andy during these next 2 weeks it will be a massive boost to his campaign. It would be the first time Andy has gone through a Slam without a coach. It is debatable the level of input Alex Corretja had during the US Open campaign of 2010 and the Australian Open 2011 campaign. Both campaigns brought mixed performances. We had the Andy Murray 'didn't want it and totally lost it' performance against Stanislas Wawrinka at the US Open and the Andy Murray 'planned everything and got outgunned at the end' performance at the Australian Open. What is certain is that Andy will come in without any pressure from the press because in some quarters players like David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro are considered favourites ahead of Andy based on previous results against the Scot on clay and also Clay is their preferred surface. Andy needs to let his tennis do the talking and really put himself in a position to be a serious threat at this French Open. I would hate for Andy to look back at this and like Marlon Brando in the Waterfront say "I coulda been a contender"

Murray has this wrapped up unless he goes over on his ankle again.

Andy - The master of suspense !

Murray Breaks!

Great break that.

Remember Andy.......FOCUS.

Just turned on the Tennis hows Murray been playing?

Started poorly, now getting to play his way and doing well. Semi Finals will be his definately

Liam_Main wrote:Just turned on the Tennis hows Murray been playing?

Just normal - Not for the faint hearted fans

Since i've turned it on he's looked very impressive just gotta keep it up.

Great hold by Murray with fabulous tennis being played by both players. Murray just needs to stay focussed and with his mind on the job and he will win as Chela is now under the cosh and mentally doubting himself I reckon.

At least they shouldn't run out of daylight today, so Andy will get a much-needed day off before the SF. Hopefully he'll be able to get the ankle a bit better and not be compromising his fitness to play in the medium term (i.e. that he'll be fully fit for Queens and particularly Wimbledon).

I think he should pull out of Queens and play a couple of matches before wimbledon so he is used to the grass and so he can rest his ankle

Murray breaks Chela again,4-1

Think it's fair to say clay will no longer be his least favourite surface and he does seem to be going from defence to attacking play more and more now.

Murray comes back well after being broken,5-2.

I'm actually watching Andy today.....first time I've seen him this tourney.......hope his ankle holds up.

I'm predicting a Murray v Nadal final : )

Solerina

Sportslover

Andy has never said that clay is his least favourite surface, indeed he's on record as saying it is the one he enjoys playing on the most. Unfortunately though, it has until this season been a surface where he hasn't had great success (although if you look at who he loses to on clay, it's usually a top 10 player, so he's been less bad than has sometimes been made out) and that perhaps is least well suited to the strengths of his game.

Anyway, I wonder if the ankle problem is a blessing in disguise, in that it is forcing Andy to adopt a more aggressive mindset for this tournament, which seems to be serving him well (at least after he's spotted his opponent a 4 game start).

Murray is not going to beat Nadal with this kind of form

Whats happening to Murray??

AAAAaaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!....ffs...FFS!

Getting really sick of the mails from posts here

Murraylkes to do it the hard way

7-5, Murray wins the 2nd set. Made it hard for himself though.

Now go on and win the third Murray

Andy loves a crisis. Now leads two sets to nil. No doubting he will need to up his game or consistency levels for the match against Rafa Nadal though. However, it will be some achievement by Andy to say he has reached at least the semis in all four slam events.

I cant see him beating Rafa CC because Rafa is just better on clay but it is testement to his talent if he does reach the semi's. He really must win a slam one day.

I can't see him beating Rafa either. Big ask after all Rafa is 'The King of Clay' whilst clay is Andy's weakest surface. I still feel Djokovic will win the French Open though.

Djokovic doesnt look like loosing does he. He really is in a very rich vein of form and looks the best player in the GS so far.

The thing is that Djokovic has Nadal's number on clay this season so he'll have no fear going into that potential match. Also the new balls being used this year are not particularly liked by Rafa Nadal.

Nadal through in straight sets by the way.

Yeah i saw that CC and with Murray now a break up in the 3rd, you could be forgiven for thinking that he will win from here. Must be really upsetting a few of the old 606 crowd

5-2 in the third and Chela looks done.

Well if Andy wins now like it looks certain then he will have another achievement on the board - a semi-finalist or better at all four slam events. Average/poor players or bottlers/chokers don't have achievements like that in the game.

Murray serving for victory.

I always say that if Murray breaks his duck in slams, he will be a multi winner. Sort of reminds me of Ivan Lendl in regards to winning his first slam.

Murray wins it,6-2 in the final set

I agree eirebilly - it is all about self-belief and mental application as he has all the shots in the book.

GAME SET AND MATCH Andy Murray.

I think Murray will win a grand slam not for a year or two though.

He will win one soon CC. Too good a player not too. Remeber how many years it took Lendl to win one...

Well eirebilly We shall see. I am hopeful.

Well Cale and Yummy a thread about Andy without wums.

Most refreshing

I am more than hopefull CC, he is far too talented a player not to win one soon. I really enjoy watching Andy play as you live the match with him :-)

Fantastic!!! .......Andy in the SF!!!!!

That last two sets is all I've seen, an will see, of Andy and RG.....my life doesn't allow for much tennis watching

Solerina

Yeah, but there are three other players who know where to put the ball so that Murray can't play his normal game.

Andy plugged away at his own game, set after set and it paid off, he wore Chela down and got the 3rt set in a way he wanted to, albeit with some moments of lunacy, but that's Murray for ya.

If he can play with the same mind set and game plan, he may well beat Nadal, but Rafa aint going to lie down and let Andy walk all over him, that's for sure.

But hey, he's in the semi final of the FO, who'd have thought that 5 months ago after the AO !

Nadal will breeze through vs Murray.

Murray spent almost 3 hrs on court with a journeyman, Nadal is far superior to Chela and won't be as wasteful on the big points.

Clay is Andy's weakest surface so even reaching the semis is an achievement in itself. As for winning a slam the signs are looking better now as Federer the GOAT is not the unbeatable force he was a year or two ago of that I am sure as age catches up with him. Rafa himself dosn't look as bullet-proof as he has in the past but Djokovic is a different matter but Murray came within two points of beating him a couple of weeks ago so he is not that far away.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Clay is Andy's weakest surface so even reaching the semis is an achievement in itself. As for winning a slam the signs are looking better now as Federer the GOAT is not the unbeatable force he was a year or two ago of that I am sure as age catches up with him. Rafa himself dosn't look as bullet-proof as he has in the past but Djokovic is a different matter but Murray came within two points of beating him a couple of weeks ago so he is not that far away.

Slams are best of 5 not best of 3.

If Rome was best of 5, Djokovic would've won after being 2-1 down

Yes that is true sonic but Andy has no fears about going five sets. All he could play in Rome was three sets and showed he can push him very hard and remember this is Andy's weakest surface sao he deserves credit alone for reaching the semis here.

I always thought that Andy looked much better on Clay, even if it is his weakest surface.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Yes that is true sonic but Andy has no fears about going five sets. All he could play in Rome was three sets and showed he can push him very hard and remember this is Andy's weakest surface sao he deserves credit alone for reaching the semis here.

I'm not denying Murray's guts or talent

It just seems Djokovic can win from any position at the moment