Can Murray raise his game again?

Despite anti-English jibes, a failure to win a Grand Slam, and an attitude that initially left many tennis fans disappointed, Andy Murray has managed to earn himself a place in the heart of the British public. 

However, he has earned this place not through a newfound love of his personality on the part of the public or because he has triumphed at the highest level yet, but through the fact that experts, fans and US Open betting punters alike believe that he can do something that the former hero of the British public (Tiger Tim Henman) never managed to do: win a Grand Slam.

Having shown himself to be far more capable on hard court surfaces than on any other, and reaching the final of both the Australian and US Grand Slam events, experts such as John McEnroe are tipping him to make the final step up and show that he can raise his game one last time in order to win that first Grand Slam event.

Whether Murray will be able to do that this year depends largely upon how he can perform when he comes up against players who have enormous serves and big forehands, a type of player that has often been capable of troubling the Scot.

With  Murray having shown himself to be ruthless in his pursuit of glory, something that his glut of former coaches can attest to, he will now need to show that same ruthlessness on the court. Should he succeed in making that step up and win a Grand Slam title, preferably starting with a US Open odds triumph at Flushing Meadows this month, then Murray may find himself in the British public’s hearts and memories for a far longer stretch of time than good old Tiger Tim.