By Jayita Belcourt
Andy Murray has again shown the world why he is the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist and US Open Champion with a stunning victory over Bulgarian youngster Grigor Dimitrov at the Brisbane International Finals today.
Despite a sluggish start to the match, where Murray scored only two points in the first three games of the opening set, the ATP ranked no. 3 clawed his way back from 2-5 down in the first set and 3-4 in the second to defend his Brisbane title 7-6 (7-0), 6-4 in just over 90 minutes.
All eyes were in awe as the Scotsman remained focused, fiery and determined as he dished out some unbelievable shots at critical points of the match. Winning seven straight points in the first set tie-breaker, the young Bulgarian was left pondering how to step up or win against such an experienced and composed opponent.
“I didn’t feel that I was far, far from winning the set or even the match,” Dimistrov said.
“He stepped up. He pulled out some really, really good shots when he had to. way he composed himself in the tiebreak and the way he came out in the tiebreak was just different.”
“Experience talks”
Dimitrov, competing in his first ever ATP finals, was keen to dismiss that nerves were a factor in what could have been a very different story today if the ATP ranked no.48 had been able to hold serve at 5-3 in the opening set.
“I didn’t feel nervous actually at all. I just felt actually quite good.”
Clearly wrapped by his performance today, Murray was not concerned about his slow start or what effect it could have on preparations for the first Grandslam of the year, the Australian Open, which starts Jan 14 in Melbourne. Rather, Murray is accepting that things do not always go to plan, acknowledging a change of tactics is more often than not the key to success.
“Some matches you’re going to start well and some you’re not going to start well. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish the match,” Murray said.
“He started the match off very well and was extremely aggressive. I needed to change things around a little bit, and I managed to start dictating a lot of points and use my forehand well. So my groundies worked well today”
“Sometimes you’re maybe looking to play perfect tennis all the time. That’s never going to happen. It’s something you need to accept”
Murray, who has just won his 25th title, gives much credit to his new found mindset and career success to coach, tennis great, Ivan Lendl.
“We’ve worked in the 13 months now or so been working together, on so many different aspects of the game. We’ve worked on some minor technical things, some mental things, and we’ve obviously worked on tactical things as well,” Murray said of Lendl.
“He tries to keep things fairly simple and not overcomplicate things. That’s something that I think especially at the beginning of my career I struggled with, was having a lot of variety and not knowing how to use it. I think I’ve started to use it better now”.
With such a stunning performance on display today, what does 2013 hold for the Scotsman? Don’t be surprised by a second consecutive strong year from Murray, with at least one or two more Grand Slam single titles to be added to the Andy Murray trophycase.
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Scoop Malinowski · January 6, 2013 at 3:23 pm
Murray is at that stage where he is a great champion with that minute mental edge on most of the Tour. Like a few years ago Federer would nip so many close matches, somehow he’d find a way, it was his experience and the mental edge winning big titles which makes the difference. Sampras had it, Agassi, Nadal, Djokovic, it’s natural for them to pull out these close matches like Murray did today. Murray is showing all the signs that he will be a great champion.
Steve · January 6, 2013 at 5:45 pm
Lendl has done wonders for Murray but I was surprised that he struggled against Nishikori and the world #48.