Andy Murray: I Feed Tired Mentally, Haven’t Slept Much

by Tom Gainey | August 9th, 2012, 9:28 am
  • 24 Comments

Andy Murray showed little signs of fatigue from his breakthrough weekend yesterday at the Roger Cup in Toronto. Just three days after stunning Roger Federer to win the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics, Murray flew to Canada where Wednesday in his first hardcourt match in four months he blew out Flavio Cipolla 61, 63 in the second round.

“I feel okay,” Murray admitted aftward. “I feel a little bit sore in the joints and stuff a little bit. I feel tired mentally. Haven’t really slept much the last few days, so that’s probably catching up with me a little bit.

“After playing for eight weeks on grass pretty much, it’s very different here. The ball is very quick compared with Wimbledon. It also bounces much higher. The court is much slower as well. So there are a lot of things to change. Only got a couple hits on the court, so it was good to play a match and get a win, yeah, fairly comfortably.”


Murray said he’s still riding the high after his big performance on Sunday in front of his fans at Wimbledon.

“I’ve been, yeah, just not really sleeping much in the evening at all,” Murray said. “Normally I sleep for nine, ten hours a night. Maximum I’ve been sleeping four hours a day. That suggests I’m still fairly excited about it. The tournament was the best tournament of my life. To win a gold medal in your home Olympics, not many people get a chance to do that. And to do it against Roger on Wimbledon Centre Court made it even more special. It was a great week.”

Despite the hectic weekend – Murray also won the silver medal in the mixed doubles – and the post-win media blitz, Murray decided to play Toronto.

“I wasn’t back home until 2:30,” Murray said of his Sunday commitments. “Did press for about two and a half, three hours after the match, and then the next morning started again at 8:00 for about another three, four hours. So it was quite a long, busy couple of days. Yeah, I spoke to the guys, and we thought best thing to do was to come see how I feel when I arrive here, practice on the courts, and then make the decision after that. I felt okay this morning when I practiced and decided to give it a go. ”

Tonight Murray will meet powerful Canadian star Milos Raonic in the third round.

“He’ll obviously be very motivated playing in his own country,” Murray said of Raonic. “He’s improved a lot over the last year, year and a half. He’s playing really, really good tennis. Very big guy with a big game. Serves well and hits the ball very hard.”


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24 Comments for Andy Murray: I Feed Tired Mentally, Haven’t Slept Much

metan Says:

Andy needs rest, so he can defend his title in cincinnati, the early out is best for him, imo.


madmax Says:

I am sure Andy will have no expectations at all playing cincy, so if he gets knocked out early on,we will all know why. Doesn’t matter either way. He has done well transitioning and dealing with all the media, and by the sounds of it, the lack of sleep! Not sure I would have coped so well :)


jane Says:

Loved the gold medal cake they served Andy.


Mark Says:

All depends on how much Andy wants the no. 3 ranking. There is a difference of 785 pts between him and Rafa. He needs to win to gain no. 3 spot.


jane Says:

Mark, according to the ATP link I posted on the other thread, which has “race points” there are over 2000 points between Andy and Rafa – could it be that Olympic points aren’t yet added?


jane Says:

Okay I think I see the difference now – the link I posted lists this year’s points only, so it’s of the 2012 points race, whereas you’re talking about the rolling / weekly rankings – YTD, in which case you’re right – Murray is only about 800 points from Rafa. Got it!


gannu Says:

its absolutely senseless for these top guys like murray djoko and del potro to play toronto after such a hectic week…the main problem is all of them are very short term focused and never think long term which feddy bear does….only those guys are successful who take care of their body well….few ranking points that you lose by nt playing doesnt matter,,,,tahts why feddy bear is a master at managing schedule..something which is less appreciated and really under-rated…he skipped shanghai..took a full month off last year and then dominated and raked up points… no point doing all the travel, take a hit on ur body..its very imp to listen to your body signals…thats wat feddy bear says… give credit to him..


Ray Says:

I hope this stupid olympic gold medal has not costed murray the US open.

if the atp/players are really serious, they should eliminate one GS in the olympic year and replace it with the olympics. like, this year they should have had only one Wimbledon and winner gets both wimbledon + olympic gold.

in 1992, when olympic was on clay, french open gets replaced. in 2000 – ao and so on and so forth.

atp can thank me and contact me so that they can deliver the moolah to me for such a brilliant idea :)


jane Says:

I think the players are required to play the Masters Series events. Rafa could pull out of Canada without penalty because he has an injury, and I think Fed could pull out without penalty because he’s been on tour a certain amount of years. After so many matches and/or events, I think he can skip more Masters without penalty. Can anyone confirm if this is the case? And that Nole, Murray, Delpo, Tsonga etc were required to play? I think a player is allowed to skip maybe one masters all year, as far as I know. But otherwise there are penalties – is this not the case??


Adam Says:

@Gannu. I agree. Many of the players who are playing Canada are thinking short-termed. Maybe Murray is trying to capitalize on his good form at the moment or he thinks he can just tough it out and pick up the points. But the thing is that even if he does tough it out and grab the points it will catch up with him eventually. Sometimes you can ride a high for a little while but with what he’s been through it will catch up with him. With that kind of travel, fatigue, mental stress and emotion, and topped off with no sleep, he will crash soon wether he tries to fight it or not.


subo Says:

nadal says his knees hurt why should we believe him and that sleazy uncle tony i think nadal is blood doping big time where i the vermin in the press to ask the nadal tough questions they always make excuses for this man roger was dead tired playing murray the press says he is old unreal


Polo Says:

Until it is proven that Nadal is taking performance enhancing drugs, I will continue to believe what he says.


Polo Says:

@Ray: I don’t think that there was ever a time when the Olympic games replaced any of the grand slam events.


the mind reels Says:

@jane: yes, that’s the idea. There are 3 milestones, as the ATP calls them, and in reaching each milestone, a player can reduce his commitment to having to play all of the 1000 events:

* 600+ matches (both Nadal, 705, and Federer, 1,051, have fulfilled this)

* 12+ years of service (Nadal’s not quite there yet; Federer is)

* 31+ years of age as of Jan. 1 of the year in question (neither is there, but Federer will be next year)

If a player has reached all three milestones, then he has full exemption from the Masters 1000 player commitment. Not sure actually what that means, but currently it sounds like Nadal is allowed to skip one because he has the above exemption, and I think bona fide injury is cause to skip another.


jane Says:

Thanks the mind reels; I would think both Roddick and Ferrer must be in or close to that 600+ milestone too, and they both withdrew as well.

My point was that we can’t really criticize Murray, Tsonga, Delpo or Nole for playing – they are required to play! Plus Murray had already missed Madrid with injury so I don’t think he could give Toronto a complete skip, though now he’s pulled out after the fact due to injury.


tennisfansince76 Says:

@Ray that is a great idea. not a ssnowball’s chance in hell it will ever be implemented. for one thing the Grand Slam’s are independent of the ATP.


mem Says:

gannu,

i wonder how it feels to be “feddy bear” and never make a mistake; never say or do anything wrong. oh well, i will never know because i’m a mere mortal with imperfections, but i guess i can dream that i’m perfect like roger.


Sienna Says:

Fed makes many mistakes and still does.

His niggest mistake and it showed underestimating Nadal and overestimating his dominace came at the end of 2007

He went on to play Pete Sameprass in a few exho’s. Well I was really gutted. I did not care at all for that. He should have rested or preparing himself for ATP tour.

Instead he gained I believe at that period the mono which was led to the downfall that year in the ranking.
but even more serious he lost AU Open to Novak and Novak proved he was not ready to win majors for another 2- 3 years. So Fed gave away a slam and he gave away Wimbly and to a lesser degree AU Open 2009. We all know he suffered back issues (severe) due to him trying to maintain top player.

So him playing Exho’s against Sampras and not listening to his body or take rest has cost him dearly.

Not only ranking and slams but his h2h with rafa which was turning at that time was now afetr AU 2009 at a possible worst with 5 defeats on the troth.

2008 also was a olympic year so if he would have stayed fit for that year he most probably would have gotten the gold already.

So he doesnot make much mistakes but they tend to have big results when he does.


Margot Says:

Hope Andy is OK. :(
Has been a very hectic couple of weeks and it’s a blooming impossible schedule for those who made quarters into the Olympics.


Michael Says:

Murray should not have played at Toronto in the first place. It is a long season and he already has his hands full in the form of a final at Wimbledon and then winning the Olympic medal. It is really a gruelling one and this is where right scheduling matters. Now atleast he is wise to withdraw from this event and prepare himself for the US Open as winning a major is his long cherished goal.


skeezer Says:

Tennis is a grueling sport nowadays. You just can’t be great on the court, but you have to be great off the court too. You have to manage your body, mind, and soul for Tennis only, all the time. Alot of other pro sports have off seasons,Tennis doesn’t have much of an “off” season. Whilst it is amazing that throughout Feds career he has managed this better than most, me thinks as fans we need to give players a break when injuries and illnesses come around(as long as its not being used for gamesmenship purposes). Compare it to other athletes in other sports and if u do I think our sport matches up very well.


jane Says:

“Murray should not have played at Toronto in the first place” – It was not an option. Masters events are mandatory!! He already missed Madrid with injury.


Margot Says:

Lol Andy going from 10 hours a night sleep to 4! No wonder he is tired.


Gaga Says:

Good move to withdraw from Toronto for Murray and losing early, tanking, for Del Potro. They will be fresh at the USO.

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