Aimee Howarth talks about her sporting hero, Cristiano Ronaldo
Steve Puddicombe on why he thinks Mark Cavendish should win Sports Personality of the Year 2011
The Yorker's sports team says what they would like for Christmas this year
The second blog for The Yorker from the University of York Riding Club
Although the match wasn’t completed - Djokovic retired in the second set of the match with a shoulder injury – don’t take anything away from Murray. He was leading 6-4, 3-0 thanks to his quick and attacking play, sending the Serb scrambling all over the court before he conceded, recording only a second loss this year.
So, Murray seems to be performing consistently well in most competitions, claiming titles all over the world, but when the Opens comes around he always falls just short. What is it that the other players have that he is lacking?
Maybe it’s determination – Murray has been criticised, most recently at Wimbledon this year, for lacking attacking play and aggression and so failing to overcome his higher-ranked opponents. This match against Djokovic had some incredible rallies and shot play, so Murray has proved to his critics he does have the passion and determination to compete with the best. He just has to keep doing it consistently and look like he believes he can win, even when he’s losing.
Or is he lacking fitness? After wrist and ankle injuries over the last few years, Murray is often seen sporting protective straps and, just like any player, must be conscious of aggravating his injuries. However, with a fitness team behind him and aged only 24, he should be in the peak of his health. No more excuses on this front please.
And he certainly isn’t short of talent: trained at tennis schools since the age of 14, Murray looks natural on the court and has a knack of finding the corners on amazing cross-court shots. In his career, he has victories over Nadal, Djokovic and Federer, proving he deserves to be fourth in the world as he can compete at that level.
Maybe the US Open in Flushing Meadows next week will be his moment to combine all his attributes to finally go on to win an Open. The press has been asking ‘When will Murray win an Open?’ for a couple of years now and hopefully we won’t have to wait long for the answer.
Murray has reached three Open finals so far – the last two finals in Australia and a US Open final in 2008; he clearly performs better on hard courts, so perhaps this will aid him at the US Open this time around.
With the world's top three players suffering from bad spells of form or injury, this could be Murray's best chance to claim the title. Reigning US Open champion Nadal has had a drop in form recently, slipping to a shock defeat to Dodig in the Rogers Cup and then falling in the quarter finals in Cincinnati. Federer was also knocked out in the Cincinnati quarters and while Djokovic should recover from his shoulder injury in time, the Wimbledon and Australian Open champion might be affected by fatigue as his fantastic year draws to a close.
Don’t forget to watch Murray in the US Open from 29th - 11th September!
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