MURRAY’S MOMENT
It’s hard to believe things could get better for him, but this really could be...
SIR ANDY MURRAY is already one of the greats of world tennis. Anyone who wins multiple Grand Slam titles deserves that accolade. Only 85 players have done it in the history of the men’s game. Only 57 have won three slams or more, as he has. That alone elevates him into the pantheon of the sport.
Murray has won as many slams as Arthur Ashe and Gustavo Kuerten. More than Ilie Nastase and Stan Smith. He has won slams on different surfaces. And he has done it competing against three of the best five players who have ever lived. His legacy is secure.
But next weekend in Melbourne, when Murray begins his attempt to win the first Australian Open of his career, it will mark the true start of what may be the most important and momentous year in the career of the Scot, who has become Britain’s most popular sportsman.
It is tempting fate to say it represents a window of opportunity for Murray, a time when a decade of relentless hard work, the declining powers of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the new vulnerability of Novak Djokovic and the maturing of Murray’s own brilliance, join together to present him with an opportunity to build his greatness.
Federer and Nadal have been too good for too long to be discounted as persistent challengers and if they can stay clear of the injury problems that dogged them both last year, they are capable of a glorious last flourish, players who are capable of trying to dislodge Murray from his position as world No1.
And Murray’s defeat by Djokovic yesterday in an epic three-setter in the final of the Qatar Open looked like proof that the Serb’s struggles in the second half of last year represented more of a blip than the beginning of a decline. The match, which, as usual, was full of rallies of breathtaking skill, whetted the appetite for a year when the rivalry between the two men may reach new heights.
None of that changes the fact that the cards finally seem to be stacked in Murray’s favour as he takes his leave of Doha and heads to Australia. Things have now changed psychologically. Murray might never have expected to lose when he played Djokovic in recent years but Djokovic always expected to win. Despite what happened in Qatar last night, that no longer applies. The final in Doha was a fine win for Djokovic but he knows better than anyone that it is in Australia where the extent of his recovery will face its true test.
Murray’s crushing victory over the Serb in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals in London last November confirmed him as the year-end world No1. It also broke the dominance that Djokovic has held over his rival for most of their careers. The time when Djokovic could record a run of eight victories in a row against Mur- ray, as he did between July 2013 and August 2015, is past.
Murray has much to respect but nothing to fear when he plays Djokovic now. The same applies to his rivalry with Federer and Nadal. The last six months have turned the idea that he is the junior partner in the Big Four on its head.
Murray is the man to beat now. He is the man who had put himself in pole position to profit if Djokovic faltered. Now that he is in the ascendancy, it is his chance to turn his superiority into the gold of Grand Slam wins that are the currency of tennis greatness.
He has been runner-up in Australia in five of the last seven years. Sometimes, he has been desperately close to winning. Sometimes, defeat there has hung over him for much of the first part of the year.
Dj okovic has won there six times too and is probably at his most comfortable in the Rod Laver Arena. If Murray can beat him there, he can beat him anywhere. Every slam is like climbing a mountain but Murray will never have a better chance of reaching the summit in Melbourne than he does this year.
He said recently that that was his goal. The Australian and the French Open are the two Grand Slam events Murray has yet to win and he wants to put that right this year. He has been getting closer and closer in Paris too, losing in four sets in the final to Djokovic last year, the Serb’s last major triumph.
What a feat that would be for Murray to achieve. It is a huge task but if he could win in Melbourne and at Roland Garros and complete a career Grand Slam of major victories, he would be in rarefied company indeed. He would join only Fred Perry, Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic on that list.
It is hard to think that, after the birth of his first child, a second Wimbledon title, a second Olympic gold medal, becoming world No1 and a knighthood in 2016, things could get better for Murray in 2017 but there are some big, big prizes out there.
It is a good job he relishes a challenge.