Braveheart Murray Reflects on Loss
Saturday, 25 June, 2005
At the top level of international tennis the game is as much about frame of mind as physical strength and skills on the court. Andy Murray - ranked 312 in the world - has shown he has the composure to avoid being put off by the gamesmanship of the likes of Czech Radek Stepanek in the second round, saying after the match: "He was trying to put me off. Everybody told me before the match like he's gonna try a bit of gamesmanship, and he ends up looking a bit stupid because he lost."
In his match today against 18th seed, and former Wimbledon finalist, Argentine David Nalbandian, Murray experienced his first tie-break on the ATP tour. But Murray kept his cool, his composure and his precision to take the set.
Murray has said he just loves playing in front of a big crowd. After his first round win, his tongue-in-cheek comment about playing on Court No. 1 against the 14th seeded Czech was successful, and similarly cheekily he said it would be good to play on Centre Court against the seeded Nalbandian. Not even Centre Court could hold a big enough crowd for this stuff-of-dreams.
As Britain's new tennis icon he can be guaranteed of massive home support whenever he plays on home soil from now on. After his match today he said: "To play on Centre Court has always been kind of a dream. And when it comes true, and I went out and played like that, it was unbelievable. The support I got the whole way through the match, even when I was struggling to move towards the end, they were still very good. And when I went off the court, the noise was unbelievable."
After the cramps he experienced at Queen's in a cracking round of 16 tie earlier this month, his stamina as well as mental mettle were tested in more than three hours of gruelling action - the longest match of his career so far. He gave a gutsy and gritty performance, with excellent depth and breadth of shot play, but he clearly needs to work on the physical part of his game.
At just 18, time is on his side. "I think your body just gets used to it.. he said. "The more five set matches you play, physically you're going to get better. But maybe I just need to work a bit harder on court, play longer hours, or eat differently. I don't know. It's difficult to say. But physically, I don't think I'm in bad shape; I just got tired because I'd never played a five set match before."
18th seed David Nalbandian, complimented Murray's game: "He serves very well and he has a very good return. It looks like he plays very confidently on grass courts. He has a good forehand, good backhand, good slice. He's fast. He can see really good how is the games going. So [the match] was very tough."
Of Murray's stamina Nalbandian added: "He's too young, but I think he needs to work more. I think he lost this match because of his physical problems."
Murray still seems unfazed by the hype and expectation, saying after his defeat: "I know I can play well now and I can compete with some of the best guys. Unfortunately, physically, I'm not strong as them yet which I think is understandable as I've only just turned 18."
Written by Sally Easton
