Andy Murray suggested in the run up to his Dubai Masters semi-final with Novak Djokovic that victory would go some way to getting over any hangover pain following the epic semi-final loss in the Australian Open a few weeks ago.
As it turned out, Murray beat Djokovic as he so often does when he plays the other three quarters of the top 4 in the second tier of tennis tournaments. As much consolation as Murray may have got from this, he would have wanted it to actually mean something and that would have been to follow it up by beating Roger Federer in the final.
Murray has been here so many times before and we are starting to see it more often in the grand slam tournaments through each year. It’s all very well beating one of the big boys, but he will realistically have to do it twice in quick order if he has aspirations of winning a major tournament.
Sunday’s match with Federer was the classic example. Having reasonably comfortably dispatched Djokovic in straight sets, it was thought that Murray would have adequate reserves to give Federer a run for his money and for many, myself included, he entered the final as favourite.
As much as he played very well however, it was Federer than came out on top winning 7-5 6-4.
Andy Murray came up second best in Dubai against Federer
Ok, it wasn’t a major final, but it was symptomatic of how Murray has been performing in those larger tournaments. Murray has now made it to 4 grand slam finals and each time has come unstuck to other members of the all-powerful quartet.
Physically, he seems stronger and fitter than he has ever been and looks to be right up there in that respect. Technically, he is extremely gifted and has all of the shots in his locker. That only leaves the psychological element and it’s here that we all seem to question his ability.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Murray is playing tennis in an unprecedented era. At no other time in the game has there been three other players at a level higher than a player of his calibre for such a long period of time. I firmly believe that in any other era, say up until 2005 or 2006, a player of his current quality would have won a major by now. It must be incredibly frustrating to play against these guys and lose consistently on the biggest of stages. Just as Federer’s star appears to be fading slightly and Rafael Nadal’s form isn’t quite what it was, Novak Djokovic steps up a level to start sweeping the board. It must affect him mentally.
He will win a major, of that I am sure. How he does that is yet to be seen, but many predict that if he does, it will be a tarnished victory because it will come down to an injury to an opponent or rival, or he didn’t have to beat one of the other 3 top players.
Although he didn’t win on Sunday, he has proved over the last few years that he can beat these guys. If he does it again to win a major, all the better, but he would deserve that victory regardless.
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