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Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
Britain’s Andy Murray slumped to his third grand slam defeat at the hands of Novak Djokovic, putting up a timid display that has left some querying his attitude in comparison to his peers. Djokovic dispatched Murray 6-4 6-2 6-3 in 2 hours 40 minutes to claim his second Australian Open title and will certainly be looking to increase his slam tally this year.
Murray started solidly, with the first set largely going with serve, until Djokovic won a magical 38-shot rally to earn two break points, claiming it on the first. Unfortunately for Murray, Djokovic came back from the break in overdrive, as he raced away to a 5-0 lead, leaving Murray in his wake. Despite Murray breaking back, Djokovic comfortably took the second 6-2, and from then on I never felt Murray had it in him, despite some of his feats from two sets down in the past.
To his credit, Murray surprised me by breaking Djokovic in the first game of the third set, although Djokovic responded by taking the next three. Murray battled back again at 3-1 down to level things at 3-3. At this point one felt Murray just needed one bit of luck to edge ahead and turn the tables, but Djokovic held strong, breaking again and needing only one championship point to claim his second grand slam, building on victory in the Rod Laver Arena in 2008.
Aside from Murray’s technical deficiencies, ground strokes in particular being poor, what is more worrying is his mentality. He seemed consistently negative throughout the final, and still lingering is the streak of petulant brat which we hoped he would shake off, something which Djokovic has managed to do. Murray has hinted he will take a break from the tour, which seems like it might be a good idea. Whilst it is clear that Andy Murray is an incredibly gifted player, having beaten Djokovic, Nadal and Federer on multiple occasions, as of now his mentality is holding him back and will continue to do so until he reorders his priorities and sheds his immaturity.
Djokovic outshone Murray by a mile - Murray is a great player but it's clear that he has a little further to go before making it to the top. Beating Nadal, Federer and Djokovic is all well and good but he has to be able to do it in the pressure situations, such as finals, and he doesn't seem to have convinced himself he can do it yet.
I completely agree with the argument that it is Murray's mentality that lets him down on the biggest stages. When you watch particularly Federer and Nadal, they both have a 'game face' that helps them cope on the big stages, Federer having a total sense of calm and Nadal going into high intensity, aggressive mode. Murray doesn't have that yet, and he needs to develop that side of his game if he wants to win a grand slam in my opinion.
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