Murray's Clay Season

Never has clay brought a smile to my face since the scene from Naked Gun 2 1/2. Seeing a rejuvenated Andy Murray find not only his form that had deserted him towards the end of the hard court season, but finding new ways in his game to further himself to future Grand Slam success. And best of all he did it on the surface which most would agreed was his least favourite. His clay form this year reads 13-4. His best to date. What has made it even more remarkable is that he has done it without a coach. It all started in Monte Carlo where straight set wins over Stepanek, Simon and Gil and who could forget him being booed for drop shotting Simon. Next was a Semi Final date with Rafael Nadal who had his sights set on a 7th consecutive Monte Carlo Title. Drama unfolded before the match as reports came out that Andy might not even make it onto court due to an elbow injury. 10 minutes later and some pain killing injections, Nadal and Murray traded blows in a very close first set which Nadal took 6-4. Murray though was not beaten.....yet. Murray stormed back in the 2nd set which he took 6-3. He continued to pepper the Nadal backhand and he then showed what was to be start of something special when he then begun to let rip on his forehand. The forehand had been the topic of much discussion surrounding Murray's game and that it was seen was weak area to exploit. Now not only was his elbow injected, but so was his forehand with some much needed power and he even flattened it out. Nadal gave up the ghost towards the end of the second set. I started to dream, commentators asked questions, Murray fans across the land turned off their phones. Could Murray de-throne the king and send a massive statement to the tennis world? Unfortunately for Murray not only did Nadal have second wind, but the injection wore off and he romped to victory taking the set in emphatic fashion 6-1.

Then came Barcelona to which Murray withdrew to rest his elbow injury. Murray then re-surfaced at Madrid where he won his second round encounter against Simon in 3 sets before being ousted by an upcoming Thomasz Bellucci. The last stop for Murray before Roland Garros was Rome. In the second round he defeated Malisse a tricky opponent in 3 sets, he then defeated a home favourite Starace in straight sets and then defeated Florian Mayer in 3 sets after a blip in the first set. The Semi Final beckoned. A fitting location for 2 gladiators to thrash it out. On one side you had Scotland's biggest hero since William Wallace and on the other you had the 'Iron Man' on an impressive undefeated steak Novak Djokovic. The match was an absolute belter. Shades of Rumble in the Jungle. Murray had chances to win the match, but a determined Djokovic broke Murray fans hearts and defeated Murray in 3 pulsating sets and went on to win the tournament.

Paris beckoned. All eyes were on the draw. Murray got a very kind draw. In the first round he faced qualifier Eric Prodon. After a nervous start, Murray saw the match out in 3 straight sets. Murray went on to win in 3 tight sets against Simeone Bolelli in the second round. Then the 3rd round saw Murray faced with Michael Berrer after threats Nicolas Almagro and Arnaud Clement were taken out. After the first set, Murray fell over awkwardly in the 2nd and his French Open campaign seemed all but over. After a 5 minute medical timeout, Murray decided to play on and played some electric tennis. Some real do or die stuff and anything coming over the net was being sent back like a lightening bolt from Zeus himself. An injured Murray went on to win in 3 sets. In the 4th round he was to meet his first seeded opponent in Viktor Troicki who won the deciding rubber for his country in the Davis Cup last year. Murray still looking uncomfortable slumped to 5-0 defecit in the first set. Everyone expected a bagel, a handshake and peed off Scotsman. Murray not be denied, rallied back with 4 straight games, before Troicki saw out the first set 6-4 and won the second 6-4. Murray then decided to play lights out tennis and went on the offensive and won the next 2 sets before darkness ended the day's events. The next day Murray was broken before breaking back and the breaking again 6-5 before serving out and taking the match 7-5. In the quarter finals he faced Chela who he had defeated at last 2 meetings at Roland Garros. Melzer had been taken out in the second round. Murray won in straight sets and reached the Semi Finals for the first time, thus making it all 4 Slams that he has made the Semit Finals at. Standing in Murray's way of the final was 5 time champion Rafael Nadal. Nadal extinquished Murray's hopes in 3 blistering sets.

Murray has done himself proud on clay and has come on well. I wish he would come into the net more on clay. For the rest of the season I would like to see that 'improved' Forehand and maybe he might just win the 7 matches needed for a Slam title.

"For the rest of the season I would like to see that 'improved' Forehand and maybe he might just win the 7 matches needed for a Slam title."

I really fancy him for Wimbledon. His serve is more of a weapon on grass than it is on clay, and as you say if he can maintain the aggression on the forehand then it could be his time.

He will always create opportunities to break, and usually he's a bit better at taking them than he was today. Though it does tend to be a bit too 'safe' when he has the chances in the big matches. He doesn't need need to go all or nothing, but he does need to try and win those points a bit more i think.

Another good thing about Wimbledon is that he tends to leave the negativity behind. Even if he's struggling, he seems a lot more positive. No idea why, perhaps because its his home slam. But because he's more positive I think it could be his time. The home support will try and drag him over the line too. Plus he's tremendous at the net when trying to shorten points, which i think (and hope) he'll do a lot at SW19.

I think it's the perfect combination for him.

Serve has more bite
Much less negative body language
Forehand looking a weapon
Chance to attack the net

That's my prediction anyway, Murray's first slam to be Wimbledon 2011.

Murray's Clay season was fantastic.

Monte Carlo he pushed the King to the limit.

Rome he pushed the (at the point) unbeatable man to the limit.

Roland Garros he played brilliantly, even with a crooked ankle.

I think Murray can win the US Open. His serve and backhand are perfectly suited to the fast courts of New York.

If only you had taken advantage of more of those break points today who knows!

All in all a great performance on clay considering it was supposed to be your least favourite surface.

All bodes well hopefully now for Queens & Wimbledon.

No Queens for Andy I'm afraid ! Pull out due to ankle problems

He's had a great Clay Season and surprised us all I think.
Roll on Wimbledon

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/13649443.stm

Good comments there by Andy

yummymummy wrote:No Queens for Andy I'm afraid ! Pull out due to ankle problems

He's had a great Clay Season and surprised us all I think.
Roll on Wimbledon

Is that confirmed that he has pulled out yummy?

CaledonianCraig wrote:

yummymummy wrote:No Queens for Andy I'm afraid ! Pull out due to ankle problems

He's had a great Clay Season and surprised us all I think.
Roll on Wimbledon

Is that confirmed that he has pulled out yummy?

From what I read Craig - Hope so - IF he plays Queens without fully resting that ankle
he is Nuts !

Murray is playing in Queens!!

Come on our lad!

Well, with the weather forecast, he might get about 3 days off anyway...

I think Andy should be well satisfied with his clay season overall - probably a 9/10 rating. Three semi finals in four events is a very good return for a non-specialist - will be slightly disappointed that he didn't get the better of Djoko or Nadal in Rome and MC when there was a bit of an opportunity, but he still has some work to do to close the gap to the top 3 on his least effective surface.

Encouraging signs that the new coaching team is getting him to flatten out the forehand, especially the in to out one, although there is still work to do to get that shot up to the standard of the very best.

One thing that Andy (and to some extent Federer) have to do to beat Nadal on clay is not to use the slice backhand other than in extremis or for the dropshot - the deep defensive slice just sits up too much and allows Rafa to launch the big forehand and take the initiative in the point.