Andy Murray: Physically I’m Better Now Than When I Played The US Open Last Year [Video]

by Tom Gainey | February 10th, 2015, 12:44 pm
  • 20 Comments

Following a tough loss to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final last weekend, Andy Murray is upbeat about what’s to come. The Scot shed some light on the post-Australian Open while in Rotterdam this week indicating again that he’s in better shape, both physically and mentally, this year.

And he says now he’s ready again to compete for major titles. But his focus will be on maintaining a consistent level of play throughout the year.

Murray, who won the title in 2009, opens play against qualifier and indoor specialist Nicolas Mahut.



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20 Comments for Andy Murray: Physically I’m Better Now Than When I Played The US Open Last Year [Video]

SG1 Says:

With Federer in decline and Rafa not 100% physically, there’s definitely a chance for Andy to make some noise over the next 2 to 3 years. He will though, have to stay healthy. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if he won Wimbledon or even a USO title.


brando Says:

AO’ history. The only thing that informs us regarding muzza is: he’s back in the big time. Needs to improve 2nd serve and mental stability, beyond that he looks good for some big titles.


chris ford1 Says:

Djokovic had bad timing to have come up with Fedal all set and spent years getting better until he could take both guys down.
Andy had even worse timing. In front of him was not just Fedal, but Nole.
Andy has gotten better, stronger. But while Fed may well past his better days, Nole and Rafa are still getting better as well.
I think the next 3 years will be mainly Djokovic’s, but I think Muzz and Rafa will have success as well. My bold prediction is Milos Raonic takes Wimbledon 2 years from now. But the other “young guns” will not win a “Big One”.

Looks like Muzz and Nole have moved past the Muzz awards ceremony stinkface and the presser remarks. Andy is saying the Brit tabloids amped up hard feelings that really were not there except for a brief moment at the end of the match. He said his expression was not hostility at all towards Nole, but his disgust at himself for relaxing and thinking the match was his.
Andy is well aware that energy comes and wanes and he has see Nole struggle before like at the 2012 USO and lose.


Humble Rafa Says:

I have nothing against the Egg Lover

– Scottish Doormat


Hippy Chick Says:

Nice attitude Andy focusing on what lies ahead rather than whats been and gone,FO,W,USO as SG1 says you can win any of them if you set your mind to it,although i think W and the USO would be your best chances….


abuya Says:

murray back to top 4… BIG 4 in the ranking!!


Colin Says:

Good match between Andy and Mahut, though the second set was sometimes a bit scrappy. Andy’s first serve percentage needs to improve, but it usually does during a tournament. By the end Mahut looked a good deal the tireder of the two, but then he’s 33. Should be a good week – there are some top players taking part.


Rich Says:

Murray in Australia was the sharpest I’ve seen him since his Wimbledon/last Lendl year in 2013.

However, he has a few major problems, including (i) his second serve (as brando states above), (ii) his unwillingness to switch into attack mode against players as consistent as he and (iii) Djokovic.

I would love to see Murray throw in some serve-and-volleying, as his hands are pretty good, and his balance great. He can’t trade from the baseline with Djokovic and expect to win, unless Novak is having his trademark breathing/asthmatic/gluten issues or is off form.

While I firmly believe Federer is 4 years washed up, and Nadal physically shot, Murray now has to fend off Kyrgios, Dimitrov, Bautista-Agut, Janowicz (theoretically) and Coric. As Murray ages, he must learn how to shorten points, and that’s by attacking and net rushing.


Wog Boy Says:

Dimitrov is going from bad to worst, find a proper coach dude.

Stan is lucky to win against #193, I can see him dropping out of top10 after MC.


Wog Boy Says:

^^Wrong thread.


jane Says:

wog boy, on the one hand, i fully agree with you that grigor is stunted, but on the other hand, and as you probably noticed, muller has been playing excellent tennis of late.

he was strong against nole at the AO, he reached the semis in sydney, and the quarters before that in chennai.

but did you know that he’s lost to the eventual champion of all of the events he’s played in 2015 thus far? nole at AO, viktor at sydney, and stan at chennai. muller is clearly on a roll; his new coach has done wonders.


Wog Boy Says:

jane, actually Muller made final in Sydney and lost to Troicki who blew him away. He is last player I would like to watch. I watched his SF in Sydney against Tomic, F against Troicki and Melbourne match against Nole and NO thank you, I am switching TV off next time. He doesn’t have a game appart of that awkward sliding serve that is running away from you and volley, he doesn’t serve big, just placement, that is his tactic, there is no other parts of game that he has. Look how many TBs he played this year!
Dimitrov and any other top player should be able to beat him, no question about that, but Dimitrov is regressing, even in the match with Andy his only tactic was to atack Andy’s second serve, and than go five meters behind the base line if it didn’t work, he is wasting his talent big time and actually running out of time. Guees what, next day Roger Rasheed continued his commentating job with channel 7 explaining how Andy is good and why Grigor couldn’t beat him and he is Grigor’s coach!


jane Says:

that’s a shame about rasheed wog boy. yes, muller’s serve is his ultimate weapon for sure, but i think his rushing technique, coming in for the volley, is working too, taking players by surprise, not giving them a chance to get into the game. but you’d know more; you’ve seen him live now 3 times at 3 events! i would say lucky you but i think you’d disagree. at least you got to see 2 losses. :)


Wog Boy Says:

jane, you said it better and no, I don’t know more than you, but thank you anyway:)
It is frustrating to watch Muller, it is not my cup of tea. He goes one..two, maybe three and that is it, everything over three he is losing. There is no rythm, nor rallies, he doesn’t give you any of those, Nole was getting frustrated and us fans too (I was worried about Dr Ivo syndrome), ask mat4, he was here on TX during and after Nole/Muller match with his typical comments:)
BTW, I haven’t seen those matches live, I was watching Troicki/Bolleli on the other court in Sydney and recorded Tomic/Muller, so I could watch it later at home, final match I was out but recorded it and Melbourne one I was already back in Sydney and watched it on TV, very very frustrating one to watch.


Emily Says:

It’s interesting you discussing see Muller live. I saw him play PHM 1st round at the US Open last year in a 5 setter that went until 10 PM. I only saw the last set b/c it was the only match still going from the day session and the better matches were over. It should have been exciting, but it was dull and the crowd was forcing themselves to get into it.
Wog Boy, you’re right in how short and boring the points were.to the point where nobody cared who won. It was a bit awkward b/ I was sitting next to Muller’s team and someone commiserated w/ them as to how bad he was playing and they were indifferent.


Patson Says:

Wasn’t Muller’s style of play fairly prevalent before the game became baseline-heavy in the last decade or so ? Is it the case that as tennis viewers, our tolerance for players with a game too reliant on serve has gone down as well? Expanding on that, how many people over here really enjoy Isner or Dr. Ivo throwing aces upon aces and leaving the receiver helpless ? I do but judging from the reactions, many don’t. But then, wasn’t this relatively more common say 20 years ago? Goran’s game was very serve reliant as well.
Yet everybody enjoyed watching him play, or may be was it mainly because of his unique personality ?

Tennis fans in general, have more accustomed to rallies with occasional change-up. If you are too reliant on your serve, people start thinking of you as a Roddick clone.


Hippy Chick Says:

Guys with big serves have games that leave me cold,Isner,Raonic whos a better version,Ivo and Janowitz, as they have holes in the rest of their game,movement etc….


jane Says:

i get a bit bored if it’s only about big serves too. and yet i don’t want to watch 30-50 shot rallies all the time either! some kind of happy medium is ideal, with some great serves but some great rallies and tactical construction of points, which includes coming to the net sometimes.


Emily Says:

I can watch some big servers, I loved Goran back in the day and Roddick added other elements to his game. There are just some players who are defined by their serve. Watching Isner lose in Australia was painful b/c it was the direct result of his fairly one dimensional game (and the fact that he mentally imploded).
Raonic is being touted at a future slam winner, but I find it so difficult to watch his matches w/ interest b/c it can be just big serve after big serve. The better players have figured out how to diffuse that weapon and expose his weaknesses and they don’t seem to mind playing him right now.
I agree Jane that he ideal is someone who can use the serve as a weapon through placement or mixing up the pace. They can handle rallies and construct points, but their serve is more of an “ace in the hole” (no pun intended).


jane Says:

emily, yes, i feel the same. i mean i can tell that milos has a good forehand and he can volley too, but he can’t return and so everything depends on his service games and/or tiebreaks, as is the case with so many big servers.

and also “big” is the operative word, since so many of them are extra tall: isner, raonic, karlovic. and that means – to some degree – their movement will almost always be sort of hampered. on that aspect, they are always vulnerable.

even guys like cilic and delpo can be exploited on that front, even though their games are considerably more rounded.

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