If in 1936 after Fred Perry had won the
Wimbledon for the 3rd consecutive time someone had said that it
would take another 76 years for any British male athlete to win a tennis grand
slam no one would have taken him seriously. That however had been the case and
the man who has finally broken the curse was the current world number 3 Andy
Murray.
I must say that the success at flushing
meadows had been coming given his performances in the last few years. Over the
previous few years he has made the finals of the US open and the Australian
open. In fact last year he managed to get to at least the Semi Finals of all
the grand slams. In addition prior to 2012 he had also managed to win two ATP
World Series masters events for the last four years and managed to win a host
of other tour events. Not to mention the small matter of winning the gold medal
at the summer Olympics in London. Not too many can lay claim to the fact that
they won a gold medal in their own backyard and did so by beating the best
tennis player ever in my opinion Roger Federer. Visually too one can make out
that Andy is playing with a style and the swagger of a person who believes in
his own ability.
If you are a fan of Andy Murray then you
can expect more of the same if not better in coming years. I expect Andy to win
a fair few grand slams and tour events in the next few years. For me there are
many reasons to believe that would indeed be the case. For one at 25 he is at the peak of his powers
and his best years lay ahead of him. Success breeds success and this watershed
event could breed many stories like the US Open for Andy. The influence of Ivan
Lendl can also not be ignored, a person who has won eight grand slams can have
a profound influence on any one and having him in his corner has definitely
helped him. It just cannot be a coincidence that Lendl also lost four grand
slam finals before winning at Roland Garros in 1984.
The next goal for Andy should be to achieve
the Nuemro Uno status. Largely you are responsible for what you do, but in this
case the performances of certain Mr Nadal, Federer and Djokovic will also have
a bearing on who wins what. They could many or at least a big chunk of coming
grand slams or may not win any of them. Players like Tsonga and Del Potro and
others will also have some say in what goes on.
I for one feel that Andy has the game to go
a long way in the sport; it now comes down to the hunger the desire and the
fitness of the man. Given what has happened I doubt that those would be a
problem. So if you are a fan of tennis and Andy Murray I think you are going to
enjoy how the next 5-7 years turn out. Who knows you may even see him crying at
the center court at Wimbledon, just this time holding the winners trophy.
Let Me know what you think, whether you agree or think this is just a flash in the pan.
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