Mind The Gap: Andy Murray Made Strides

(January 27, 2012) “Yeah, it was tough at the end 'cause, you know, obviously you come back, then you get close to breaking. To lose, yeah, it's tough. But a different player, a different attitude to this time last year. Yeah, I'm proud of the way I fought.” – Andy Murray.

So Andy Murray lost to Novak Djokovic. It was expected after all. Djokovic was the defending champion down in Melbourne and leads the overall head to head with Murray 6 to 4. And even with the addition to Ivan Lendl as Murray’s coach and some would even say Svengali, the manifestation of any real change in the Scot’s game or, probably more important, in his on court demeanor wasn’t expected to take any real effect until likely six months down the road. That theory was almost proved at the start of the Men’s Semi last night when Murray went down a set and a break to Djokovic that reminded some of his dismal performance in last year’s final.

But Murray kept at it, winning the second set and then with all his will clawed his way past Djokovic in that third set breaker to go up two sets to one. With momentum on his side, it felt like maybe Murray was about to return to the AO finals once again.

And then he hit the wall.

After dropping his opening service game in the fourth set, it appeared his mind and his body were running on fumes. When Djokovic raced through the fourth set and then jumped ahead early in the fifth, Murray seemed doomed to another soul-crushing defeat that would once again earn him heaping amounts of criticism especially from the British press who like to remind everyone now and then that they don’t put any pressure on Murray at all. It felt like déjà vu for everyone. We’d seen it before. And we knew it would be unpleasant to watch.

But then something amazing happened.

Murray fought back. He’s done it before in other matches but this felt different. Serving down 2-5, he started being more aggressive, especially with his forehand, something that plenty of his fans and even his biggest critics keep saying he must do in order to win his first Major. And then he started urging himself on, and then most surprising, the 15,000 plus crowd on hand as he exhorted them with his arms, yelling at them to stand up and get loud. Murray took it to Djokovic for three games to even things at 5-5.

This wasn’t just a game changing moment. This was a career changing moment. This was Murray showing everyone he wasn’t about to collapse as he’s done in the final rounds of the Majors. This was Murray fighting with everything he had and it was something to see.

Murray looked poised to break Djokovic at 30-40 in the next game until a 30 shot rally ended with Djokovic hitting a down the line forehand winner that will earn some comparison to “that shot” he hit against Roger Federer in the U.S. Open semis. This forehand like that one in New York got him out of trouble on his service game as he later held for 6-5 and then eventually broke Murray one last time to close out the match. 

Djokovic goes on to face Rafael Nadal in the finals, but Murray though coming up short, felt like a winner with his bravura performance proving that he does deserve to be mentioned among “the big four”. He may have lost the war on the court, but the outpouring of respect and admiration for Murray’s performance, even from those who weren’t always convinced he could go seven rounds, may be the victory Murray needs to fuel him for the rest of the season.

In her press conference Murray was asked if he felt closer than ever to winning his first Major. “Yeah, I think so. You know, tonight's match was important for many reasons. Obviously I wanted to win first and foremost. But, you know, also sort of after last year, the year that Novak's had, I think there's a very fine line between being No. 1 in the world and being 3 or 4. I think that gap, I feel tonight I closed it.”

The gap is closing for Murray. And based on his performance in Melbourne, it’s likely the only step he’ll need to cross over the chasm between him and his elusive goal will be a very tiny one.