Muzza!

[Great Hands]

Yes, the problem may be primarily with his game; but, why he is not able to improve the
game? After winning Wimbledon, Murray does not seem to have tangible goals set for himself and hence seem to lack motivation to improve his game.

If you read any recent interviews with Murray, it is clear he is highly motivated. He always has been. You are asking 'Why does Andy Murray not become as good as the big 3?' This must be the question you are asking, since he is world number 4 behind those 3. The reason is that you can't magically make yourself an all-time great. One could equally ask: 'Why don't Berdych or Tsonga improve to get as good as the big 3?' Why? - Because they can't - they're just not as good.
That's Andy's only sin - not being as good as the big 3. He got to the final of the AO this year, and lost to...a member of the big 3. He lost to a member of the big 3 at 3 of the 4 slams last year too, even though he was recovering from surgery.

 

[Great Hands]

Surgery was in 2013 fall. We can give him a pass for some time due to it, but this is a much
longer drought. He needs to win at least one 1000 event this year (forget about GS) to prove
that he is in the mix of contenders (and preferably by beating at least one of the big 3 along
the way).

Murray did not start training 100% again until just before US Open 2014. And you're not going to get back to where you were pre-surgery after one training session. But Murray looks much better physically this year. I don't think you can use that as an excuse any more. But I would ask: an excuse for what? Not beating prime Djokovic on a slower surface yesterday? As I mentioned in another thread, Murray's NEVER done that - ever. I'm not sure what people are expecting from him.

Look at Murray's performances at Indian Wells under Lendl:
2012 - lost in the 2nd round to Garcia Lopez.
2013 - lost in the QFs to Del Potro.
2014 - lost in 4th round to Raonic.

So actually, Murray has done better at IW under Mauresmo than he ever did under Lendl.

And going back further:
IW 2011 - lost in 2nd round to Young.
IW 2010 - lost in QFs to Soderling.

So this was actually Murray's most successful IW since 2009, and his best at any Masters event since Miami 2013. He won that event - but didn't have to beat any of the big 3 to do so. And that was the only Masters event he won when working with Lendl.

What should people expect from him? In my opinion, winning against non-big 3 players a lot of the time, and having occasional wins over the big 3 if they're underperforming. That's all I expect, because that's all he's ever done, even under Lendl.
He needs the big 3 to underperform because they're better. I'm going to end with a quote from El Dude from the previous Murray thread, because I think it sums it up pretty well:

It is rather interesting how people continue to speak of Andy Murray as if something is "wrong" with him, as if his performance is a far-cry from his ability. As I see it, his performance perfectly matches his ability level. If you look at his record since he broke through in 2008, he's got the 4th best overall numbers; I'd say that is very accurate for his ability level - that he's been "the best of the rest" after the Big Three.

 

[Great Hands]

Murray lost to Djokovic yesterday, winning only 5 games. federer lsot to djok today, wiinign lnyl ? games. Even Federer cold only get 2 more - 7 games - agaisnt djok today. and murray is, ofc ourse, not as good a player as roger. so again, what are people expcting of muurray?

[lopexz said this iw court is the slowest they play on all year. impossible to hit through djok on this court.]

the way roger fought back in that 2nd set -his fihtting spirit and quality of play- just fanitastifc!

djok - 2 double faut sin a row in tei-break - and other pressure mitakes from him in that 2nd set. i.e. even the big 3 can look mentally weak when put under pressure. and murray's ALWAYS under pressure when he plays the big 3. i.e the mental weaknees of murray- overrated.
lots of torher egs too - fed against rafa - a lot, rafa in those wd finals gainst fed - chokes, rafa chkoing in 5th set of ao12 final - that shot he missed, rafa getting tight in 4th set of fosf13 when he served for match and losing it, djok losing it mentally in 5th et of that match, federer losing from winngn positions atht euso in 2009, 2010, and 2011 etc etc, djok's metnal wekaness against nadal in uso13f, in his fo matches etc.

 

[Great Hands]

Murray lost to Djokovic yesterday, winning only 5 games. federer lsot to djok today, wiinign lnyl ? games. Even Federer cold only get 2 more - 7 games - agaisnt djok today. and murray is, ofc ourse, not as good a player as roger. so again, what are people expcting of muurray?

[lopexz said this iw court is the slowest they play on all year. impossible to hit through djok on this court.]

the way roger fought back in that 2nd set -his fihtting spirit and quality of play- just fanitastifc!

djok - 2 double faut sin a row in tei-break - and other pressure mitakes from him in that 2nd set. i.e. even the big 3 can look mentally weak when put under pressure. and murray's ALWAYS under pressure when he plays the big 3. i.e the mental weaknees of murray- overrated.
lots of torher egs too - fed against rafa - a lot, rafa in those wd finals gainst fed - chokes, rafa chkoing in 5th set of ao12 final - that shot he missed, rafa getting tight in 4th set of fosf13 when he served for match and losing it, djok losing it mentally in 5th et of that match, federer losing from winngn positions atht euso in 2009, 2010, and 2011 etc etc, djok's metnal wekaness against nadal in uso13f, in his fo matches etc.

 

[Kirijax]

Murray got a favorable Miami Masters draw just by not being in Djokovic's half. He gets a first round bye and then if everything goes to plan:

2nd round: No. 44 Donald Young
3rd round: No. 31 (seeded No. 27) Santiago Giraldo
4th round: No. 17 (seeded No. 15) Kevin Anderson
Quarterfinals: No. 8 (seeded No. 7) Stan Wawrinka
Semifinals: Rafael Nadal
Final: Novak Djokovic

Murray loves Miami, has a home here and has won the tournament twice. Now is a good a time as any to break this losing streak against the Big Three and win his first Masters title in two years.

 

[mrzz]

You know what's odd? Before Murray won his GS titles, everyone would use the term "big four". Now we see "big three" more often than not.

 

[Kirijax]

You know what's odd? Before Murray won his GS titles, everyone would use the term "big four". Now we see "big three" more often than not.

I've noticed that too, and I don't disagree. Murray is not in the same group as the Big Three. But he is far away from the rest of the others as well.

 

[Great Hands]

You know what's odd? Before Murray won his GS titles, everyone would use the term "big four". Now we see "big three" more often than not.

I've noticed that too, and I don't disagree. Murray is not in the same group as the Big Three. But he is far away from the rest of the others as well.

I think maybe the term Big 3 has been used more recently because:
a) Andy had a less good year last year, leaving the top 4 for a while.
b) Novak has distanced himself even more from Murray with his achievements - e.g. in the early days of the term Big 4, it was really Fedal at the top and 2 challengers, and the term Big 4 was used because Andy and Novak were the only two who could challenge Fedal. But now Djokovic is an all-time great in his own right, the term Big 3 seems more appropriate in certain contexts.

I use both terms depending on whether I'm emphasising the Big 3's significantly superior level of success compared to Andy, or Andy's significantly superior level of success compared to everyone else over the last 7-8 years. So I think both terms are useful.

 

[Great Hands]

Just noticed Murray is #2 in the race! Good year so far!

 

[Kirijax]

Muzza has passed Nadal and is ranked No. 3 on the Live ATP rankings before either has played a match. Hope Muzza can finish the tournament there!

 

[Kirijax]

Andy wins 4 and 2 over Young to advance to the third round of Miami. His next opponent is No. 31 Santiago Giraldo. Murray leads the H2H 2-1 but Giraldo won their last match at the Madrid Masters last year. All three matchups have been on clay so this will be their first meeting on a HC.

 

[Kirijax]

Murray now has 499 tour wins. He will play Monfils for win No. 500 in the 4th round. :clap

 

[sid]

Murray now has 499 tour wins. He will play Monfils for win No. 500 in the 4th round. :clap

Close it's Anderson :snicker

 

[Kirijax]

Murray now has 499 tour wins. He will play Monfils for win No. 500 in the 4th round. :clap

Close it's Anderson :snicker

I get them mixed up every time. You can see the similarities.

:snicker

 

[Kirijax]

Congrats to Murray on winning his 500th on the ATP Tour!

 

[Kirijax]

AusTennisMag ‏@AusTennisMag 2h2 hours ago
The @AustralianOpen final, Big 4 return, 500th @ATPWorldTour win & now ATM cover! Welcome @andy_murray to April mag

 

[Kirijax]

Interesting little fact about the Berdych-Murray match up. Murray has never beaten Berdych at a Masters 1000 tournament. Berdych leads that category 4-0.

:eyepop

 

[Great Hands]

Interesting little fact about the Berdych-Murray match up. Murray has never beaten Berdych at a Masters 1000 tournament. Berdych leads that category 4-0.

:eyepop

Good fact! Hadn't noticed that!

Yeah, the good news for Berdych fans is that he leads the head to head 6-5.

The good news for Murray fans is that Andy leads the head to head on hard courts 5-3.

 

[Kirijax]

LOL

 

[Kirijax]

Well here we go again. we have the 26th meeting between Murray and Djokovic for the Miami final. They both had very convincing wins in the semifinals. Djokovic has won the last six meetings between the two, and the last nine on hard courts. Murray needs this one a lot more than Djokovic does. He hasn't even reached a Masters final since he won the Miami Masters in 2013. He has reached that final, but he could really gain a lot of confidence if he can pull off a victory here. It would be his 10th Masters win and be a real statement that he is going to be a threat to Djokovic this season. My mind says Djokovic in two sets but my heart says Murray in three.

If Murray loses this badly, he should just let Mauresmo go and move on.