Murray’s big power struggle
The morning after his French Open triumph in early June, Novak Djokovic was in the Place de la Concorde parading the Coupe des Mousquetaires.
he did so with the look of a man who had just won a fourth straight Grand Slam, amassing a 44-3 match record for 2016. Topping the world rankings, he led nearest challenger Andy Murray by more than 8,000 points.
Five months on and the gap has closed to the point where Murray could overtake him this weekend.
Since the French Open, the Scot has compiled an almost identical record to that which Djokovic managed in the first half of the season, going 41-3 from the start of the grass-court swing.
That is why 29-year-old Murray could become the world No1 so soon — the most likely way being if he wins the final and Djokovic fails to make it beyond the semis.
The odds are against it. As Sportsmail revealed yesterday, Djokovic is working with Spanish coach-cumspiritual guru Pepe Imaz, but he usually does well in this tournament, emerging as champion in the past three years.
Both men received byes through the first round and, today, Murray meets Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, while Djokovic will face either Gilles Muller or Nicolas Almagro.
Murray’s surge coincided with his rehiring of coach Ivan Lendl after Roland Garros, although since Wimbledon they have been together only around the time of the US Open.
Most of the actual coaching has been done by former British Davis Cup player Jamie Delgado. Murray
admitted contact with Lendl has not been all that frequent, with the Czech often using Delgado to pass messages.
‘I didn’t speak to him last week about matches or tactics — I go through all of that with Jamie,’ said Murray. ‘Whether they speak about it — which I’m pretty sure they do every day — I don’t hear about that, which is a positive thing. I have one message coming to me directly and that’s from the coach, who’s there with me.’
One thing the whole team agrees on is that lesser tournaments should be treated with a similar seriousness to the Grand Slams.
Until Murray won the 2012 US Open, there was a tendency to prioritise the majors. But the more consistent approach has brought the world No 1 position closer.
Murray believes that, despite his strenuous programme, he has enough left to compete at his best, both here and at the Barclays ATP World Tour finals.
‘You need to make sure you give yourself enough rest, which maybe I didn’t do from Rio to the US Open,’ said Murray. ‘I learned from that and made sure I took good breaks.’
Murray’s path to the final looks slightly easier than Djokovic’s, with the Scot’s scheduled semi-final opponent, Milos Raonic, having been struggling with an ankle injury despite beating Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6, 6-4 last night. Bookmakers make Murray marginal favourite to win the title, but fatigue must be a threat.
It all depends on which version of Djokovic turns up.
his coaching situation is a fascinating sideshow. With brother Marko and Imaz in the coaching box, his usual mentor Boris Becker is in england playing in an all-night poker competition, further suggesting that his future does not lie with Djokovic.