TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN
ANDY MURRAY might turn out to be the original lone wolf of tennis. In the six months since he parted with his coach Miles Maclagan, he has set aside advice and queries about replacing the adviser who oversaw his rise to the upper reaches of the rankings and, instead, has quietly found his own method as he strives for a first grand slam title.
Against all odds, it is working. Murray, without Maclagan, beat Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to win the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Federer to take the Shanghai Masters and lost narrowly to Nadal in the semi-final of the World Tour finals at the O2, widely regarded as the match of the year. They were three of his defining performances, certainly in 2010, partly offsetting desperate form early in the season, a collapse on clay and ultimate disappointment at Wimbledon. There will always be blips and minor disasters with Murray. Whatever happens from now on, though, he will do it his way.
In an otherwise routine reflection on the state of his career, as he advances on the second round of the Australian Open, Murray yesterday confirmed he is not only happy with the long-distance mentoring of Alex Corretja – while leaning on the support of his mother, Judy, and his long-time friend Dani Vallverdu on tour – but that, for the time being at least, he might have found his ideal method.
“It can happen in sport that the people around you are also kind of in it for themselves,” he said after seeing off his first-round opponent, Karol Beck, without much fuss, leading 6-3, 6-1, 4-2 when his opponent quit with a shoulder injury.
“Whereas right now the people who are with me are right behind me. They will do whatever it takes to get me ready in training and preparation, down to the small details. I enjoy it. Everyone is working in the right direction.”
It would be interesting to know which, if any, of his previous coaches – Leon Smith, Mark Petchey, Brad Gilbert or Maclagan – might be considered as “in it for themselves”, if that is, indeed, what he meant. For now, Team Murray is a tight, smiling little unit.
Vallverdu will work first-hand with him as he devises a strategy for tomorrow and the Ukrainian Illya Marchenko, one of the then obscure upstarts who routed Britain in the Davis Cup in March 2009 – a tie Murray was widely derided for missing. Marchenko, 23 and yet to win a senior title, looked good in disposing of Spain’s Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
“We’re similar players,” Marchenko said of Murray.
Judy Murray will, as ever, be a quiet, background presence when they dissect Marchenko’s game, one based on a strong backhand and unflinching confidence.
“I talk at length with Dani about all the matches I play, for quite a while,” Murray said. “I find it a lot easier to communicate with him because I have known him such a long time and he knows me well.”
Murray shares with Federer, more so than Nadal, the trait of wanting the final say in putting his game together. The Swiss has brought the professional touring coach Paul Annacone on board with great success in recent months, winning four out of five tournaments with the American, but he uses his staff as sounding boards more than instructors.
Nadal, who has grown up on the circuit in the fold of his family, is considered more pliable to coaching – not that he has not had spectacular results with an open-minded approach. What is clear is that, if Murray gets the ultimate prize here – one he must quietly reckon is as close to his grasp as it was 12 months ago – he will be in no rush to employ another full-time coach. That would be a most singular triumph, in every way.
Guardian Service
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