Andy Murray, tennis warrior.

January 29th, 2016 at 10:20 am

Also interesting to note, Murray’s 2nd serve win percentage was much higher than Raonic’s (68% to 44%).

January 29th, 2016 at 10:25 am

Murray did amazingly well against the first serve too. I was shocked how many he was getting back after the first set.

Very impressive stuff from both guys. Thought Murray was too passive in the first couple sets, he seemed to go for more on his shots as the match went on.

Raonic is going to have an amazing season. Big Six?

January 29th, 2016 at 10:45 am

No1e v. Murray. Straight set or maybe 4 set victory for No1e (I’m sure he’ll lose focus at some point, or maybe let his buddy win one set to not embarrass him). I’m sure the Djokovic bashers will cling to any hope that Andy will pull off a miracle but you’re deluding yourselves. I know Andy beat him in Montreal, but No1e has OWNED Andy “Down Under.” Number 11 on Sunday!

January 29th, 2016 at 11:32 am

@RZ
That’s a big hole in Milos’ game -ROS.
As TV says, as the match wore on, Andy was getting more “looks” at Milos’ serve.

January 29th, 2016 at 11:40 am

Interesting – Murray beats an injured Rafa and the headline is “Injured Rafa falls to Murray.” Murray beats an injured Raonic and it’s “Murray wears out Milos Raonic.”

January 29th, 2016 at 12:25 pm

Milos WAS worn out

The ‘injury’ came from Murrays tactics.

Fitness is definitely the issue for this player.

When did Murray beat an injured Nadal exactly

Do you mean Rotterdam eons ago?

January 29th, 2016 at 12:31 pm

I hope, based on their last few matches, that Andy and Novak have gotten over the yips that have ruined some of their previous big matches. I would love to see hitting like they had at the French.

January 29th, 2016 at 12:31 pm

I watched the end of the 2nd and the full 3rd set. It was awful, like watching Isner-Karlovic. Both guys were easily holding their serves and that was it, no play at all. Raonic did look stronger and it showed in the tiebreak.
Murray was lucky that Raonic due to inexperience gifted him the break at the end of the 2nd, otherwise it’d be a clean 3:0 for Raonic.
I’m a Djokovic supporter and the above is unbiased, I actually wanted Murray to win after watching Raonic’s serving in the 3rd. Based on the form and history between the two Novak needs to show up super flat in order for Andy to beat him. I hope he learned his lesson in RG last year.

January 29th, 2016 at 12:36 pm

Tom
No way will Nole gift his “buddy” a free set, nor should he be expected to.

January 29th, 2016 at 1:37 pm

TV – That FO semi was superimpressive for Andy giving notice he finally arrived on clay. To me, one of the best matches of the year (Andy’s 2015 – no SLams or WTF win for Andy, a Wimbledon humiliation by Fed, but it was the year Andy finally stopped sucking on clay. And was one of 3 people that had a “W” over Novak. )
Add to that beating Rafa in the Madrid Masters that Novak passed on playing, for his other Masters 1000 title.
But I don’t think Andy can reverse Nole’s owning their rivalry in 2016 at Novak’s favorite venue, the Rod Laver Arena. Maybe more luck later.

January 29th, 2016 at 1:39 pm

C’mon Andy!!!!!!!

January 29th, 2016 at 1:42 pm

Recently learned that my ancestors on maternal side hailed from Scotland!! Not sure if any of them immigrated from Spain……LOL Andy is my go to guy when Rafa is out, and Rafa got out early!! But I will press on and place my support with the Scottish lad…..

January 29th, 2016 at 1:49 pm

J-Kath, no he won’t give Andy a set, but I think deep down he would much rather see a final score of 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-3 than beat Andy 6-1, 6-0, 6-1. Because there isn’t really a parenthesis around buddy..both Andy and Nole say one good thing about retiring will be they no longer have to keep their friendship at arms length due to highstakes competition.
Becker of course has no such feeling. To Becker a catastrophic defeat for Andy at the AO that hurts Andy’s confidence for the rest of 2016 is the optimum thing and he no doubt is in Nole’s ear – “No Mr Softee out there. You must never let up for an instant until match point is over. Andy cannot be allowed momentum against you. He und Stan iss your danger..not Rafa, not Fed.”

January 29th, 2016 at 1:52 pm

Bracket update: Margot has taken the lead! Gypsy Gal and Nikola are fighting it out for second place.

January 29th, 2016 at 1:56 pm

Let’s hear it for Margot!! Seems like the women know more about tennis than men…..and also a 12 yr old!!LOL

January 29th, 2016 at 2:23 pm

Hear hear for Margot!
@Okie – not if you looked at my bracket. But I will plead guilty to bracket fixing. Sadly I have yet to be paid for my deliberate tank job. :-)

January 29th, 2016 at 2:39 pm

Chrisford 1

Yes, to a great extent…Nole could feel a sense of great satisfaction at whacking Fed. but less so with Andy.

January 29th, 2016 at 3:46 pm

I think Novak would rather crush everyone 6-1 6-0. Why waste time when you can get off the court quickly? Why give your opponent any sense of hope if you can avoid it? Why not send the whole tour a message saying “I’m number 1 and not even number 2 is close to me” if you can do so? These are professional athletes, not backyard buddies.

January 29th, 2016 at 3:53 pm

Chelmsford1- I agree that Becker is making that clear to No1e. So tough to be friends at that level and then one them pummeled the other one consistently. I’m sure they will be closer when their playing days are over, maybe.

January 29th, 2016 at 4:08 pm

@RZ…Well, tbh, I have not really figured out which posters are men and women. Now, if it has a gender name I got it….but not initials……..and monikers can throw me off too.
I have thought some on here have been women to find out they’re not…..mainly basing my opinion on how they write….and vice a versa!!

January 29th, 2016 at 5:34 pm

Must admit i thought Nikola was female,nice picture BTW,many tennis-x should start to do pictures with monikors?….

January 29th, 2016 at 5:44 pm

Maybe not many duh….

January 29th, 2016 at 5:44 pm

Riding on the back of the Davis Cup victory and with Jamie also in a final has to be a good omen for this year, surely!….one last big hard slog!….stay with him, think big, dig deep, cut him dead, wear him out, not let him breathe for a minute, and kill that ball!…..just an average day at the office, Andy!…..visualise……

January 29th, 2016 at 5:48 pm

It was for Margot cose she won the bracket:) But thank you GG. Nikola (Cyrillic: Никола, Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [nǐkola]) is a unisex given name, derived from Greek Nikolaos (Νικόλαος), common in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. Besides the name “Nikola”, in Macedonia there is a name “Nikolče” (Николче), which is a diminutive of the name “Nikola”. In Poland, it is used as a female name, as is done with Nicola in the UK and Germany.

January 29th, 2016 at 5:59 pm

@Heather-Flower
….stay with him, think big, dig deep, cut him dead, wear him out, not let him breathe for a minute, and kill that ball!….
And when you win Andy don’t forget to switch off your play station!

January 29th, 2016 at 6:00 pm

Well we now know what Nikola,Wogboy,Daniel,Kimberly,Jalep,Tennis Vagaond and i look like….

January 29th, 2016 at 6:05 pm

Murray won’t win
The epic battle with Raonic will have some effect but He isn’t good enough to beat Djokovic on his favourite surface Australian open !
It’s like trying to beat Nadal at French open in his prime … No one did that !
Murray will lose in 4 tight sets
But hopefully he can do better than last year when he had the match in good position but instead of concentrating he let Djokovic’s fake injury rattle him
Concentrate on Your own game andy don’t worry about your oppenant’s worries .
Andy is playing well & who knows he could sneak another Wimbledon this year ?
Clearly now andy is number 2

January 29th, 2016 at 8:56 pm

*Waving regally and graciously* to all my fans. Signings of my latest book, “Against all the odds -You can do it too” will take place in London in March…;)

And for Andy fans, some analysis:
http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2016-01-29/ao_analyst_murray_handles_the_heat.html

January 30th, 2016 at 2:05 am

Margot: Perhaps Sean and his co-writers should take a wee read at the AO analyst article you highlighted.

January 30th, 2016 at 3:25 am