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Murray’s Interesting Injury Recovery vs. Nieminen
17 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Andy Murray looked ready to throw in the towel early in the first set vs. Jarkko Nieminen. He seemed to be agonized by both back and sometimes right knee pain, quickly falling to a 0-4 hole. Patrick McEnroe, at one point when it was 0-3 said, “it’s over.” Murray looked hopeless, barely moving, wincing in discomfort, slapping away desperate shots which either fell in for laser winners or landed 15 feet out or into the net.
His serve motion became a push with no leg action. Through it all Nieminen showed no mercy or sympathy or concern for Murray, as if he didn’t believe any of it. The 30-year-old Finn is a wise old veteran, he would not be lulled into any mental traps.
Murray’s box looked blank, as they most always do, while this drama played out in front of them. Then at 5-1 for Jarkko, the ESPN camera caught Murray’s coach Ivan Lendl chuckling to Murray’s friend and hitting partner Daniel Valverde.
Strange that a coach would be laughing about anything if his player was about to retire in the second round of a grand slam with semifinal points to defend.
Of course, Murray began to feel better after some visits by the trainer who worked to stretch out Murray’s back. Murray fell down a break early in the second set but eventually raised his level of play to hsi normal excellence and got the break back at 4-4. All the while, Nieminen competed with focus and intensity, as if he didn’t believe one iota of Murray’s agony.
Murray cruised to victory from there. Could it have been a brilliant display of bluffing by Murray? Now all the focus from the media will now be on Murray’s health, not about the ever mounting pressure of when will he finally win his first slam.
Does Murray, under the advisement of Lendl, need to try to concoct some new mental schemes to change his tact to finally putting his vast talent together into winning the oh so elusive major title?
It would not be a shock in the least, if Murray completely calculated and feigned his injuries yesterday, in order to create a new, fresh approach to capturing the big prize so many believe he has the qualities to win.
Like the wise old boxing champ Bernard Hopkins once said, “If you can bluff ’em you can beat ’em.”
When you think about it, several other top WTA and ATP players have overcome curious injuries to win major matches, so maybe that could be a fine line difference maker for Andy Murray. The concept would certainly be worth testing at this point.
Whatever the truth, it was an impressive, theatrical win by Murray who overcome severe adversity and found a way to find the winning form.
Mitch · June 1, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Especially at the French and given his poor performance during the run up events, I don’t think there was much pressure on Murray at this slam. He’s widely expected to fall before the semis. I guess time will tell though. His next few rounds should be much tougher.
Dan Markowitz · June 1, 2012 at 4:20 pm
Y’know, I look at Murray and don’t see how you can like the guy. Didn’t his girlfriend once dump him for a while for playing video games too much? I mean does that say it all? I don’t think he was faking the injury, but maybe he’s one of those guys who when he feels a twinge, he makes it seem like he’s FDR.
I’ve never been a Murray fan and then when he hired Lendl that kind of was coup de grace because Lendl was one of the all-time piss off’s in the game.
mat4 · June 1, 2012 at 9:10 pm
Scoop,
on another topic: the rigged draws. When I chat about this with other posters, many of them write “I don’t want to believe”. But it is not a question of beliefs, but of business and stats.
You have two very popular guys with a big sponsor. One has a difficult H2H against Murray, the other against Djokovic. So, from 2008 to 2011, on hard courts and grass one never faces Murray, the other never faces Djokovic. The Australians broke the pattern because they wanted a Fedal, and with Djokovic’s level they doubted they could get one except in the semi. The probability for such draw was 1:4096.
In France, the story was a bit different: Murray was a non factor, and Frenchies care mostly for a Swiss player. So, Nadal had to face Djokovic from 2006 to 2010. In 2009, after Roger’s debacle the previous year and three Rafole finals in MC, Rome and Madrid, they changed the pattern. In 2011, Djokovic was number 2, so Roger had to land in his half, just like this year.
For years, in Monte Carlo (where Franulovic is the tournament director) and Rome Djokovic wasn’t in Rafa’s half. When Murray was number 5, he landed inevitably in Soderling’s quarter.
Enough to get suspicious.
mat4 · June 1, 2012 at 9:20 pm
Having that in mind, I am certain that the Rome final was a comedy. Djokovic had to lose, otherwise he would have to play Rafa in the semi.
I am certain that his decision was to see Rafa’s level: if he can win in two sets, easily, then OK. It would have been a big blow in Rafa’s face, so it could be worth a difficult draw.
Bit if he has to fight, his decision was to lose, but close. He was also aware that after the titanic clashes in Madrid both Rafa and him lost early at the FO, that the exhausting finals at the USO and AO costed both Rafa and him dearly and allowed Roger to dominate and win a lot of atp points until they recovered.
So he faked anxiousness, broke two racquets, something he hasn’t done for years. And he got Roger, not Rafa, and a chance to get to the final.
I think that there is a lot of pressure on Djokovic and that he can lose before the final. But if he makes the final, there is no way he will lose.
Andrew Miller · June 2, 2012 at 12:57 am
Possum!
Scoop Malinowski · June 2, 2012 at 2:18 am
Mat4 you might be on to something, I always wondered if they set up some matches in draws, like Isner vs. Mahut II, and some other crowd pleasing first rounders. But never thought about what you say. Your theory is not outrageous.
Scoop Malinowski · June 2, 2012 at 2:21 am
Agree, Djok will win the French Open next week. Rome and Monte Carlo meant nothing to him, it’s all about winning the last one he needs, Roland Garros. Next weekend is going to be tremendous tennis viewing.
Andrew Miller · June 2, 2012 at 2:22 am
Could be. Isner seemed winded in his match with Roddick at the US Open a few years ago but nonetheless revived. Would not surprise me. Then again it must be brutal to play Rafa. You kill yourself to win a point and run Rafa around, look across the net and see him breathing as if he can do it again, and again, and again. Demoralizing.
Scoop Malinowski · June 2, 2012 at 2:23 am
Andrew it would have been fun to see if Nieminen decided to play tit for tat, and also have some kind of injury, both playing that game at the same time )
Jennifer · June 2, 2012 at 1:34 pm
What a shameful display of journalistic slander! Is the talent and tennis not interesting enough? I suggest the writer of the article and anyone else casting aspersions, against the character of Murray or any other athlete undergoing physical challenges, remove themselves from watching sports and try reality tv instead. Creating drama at others’ expense speaks volumes about the character of the castigators.
Shame on you.
Scoop Malinowski · June 2, 2012 at 4:12 pm
Jennifer, I wrote the piece. Like you I like Murray a lot but I’m calling it as I see it, I think he exaggerated the injury, perhaps even faked it. Bluffing injuries and playing possum is a part of the phsychological game of tennis. How many times have we seen Nadal and Djokovic appear hurt and then suddenly respond by playing like gangbusters? Don’t take it the wrong way, I have huge respect for Murray and his achievements and the way he competes. It’s good to see he looked in perfect health today and his hopes of winning his first major are still alive in Paris.
Andrew Miller · June 2, 2012 at 9:34 pm
Ha ha. Sorry I have seen players perform before – none other than Connors, stirring up the crowd and creating quite a bit of theatre to engineer a comeback on Paul Haarhuis. We can talk all day about the character of Connors – was he out of his mind? Was he fair? Was he appropriate? Was he off his rocker? Point is that he indeed used a tactic that involved some acting – tennis is a gladiator sport. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Andrew Miller · June 2, 2012 at 9:36 pm
And yes, I’ve played tournaments where opponents act. I played a top 20 18s kid who played the 1st three games as if he had no idea how to play tennis. Then he started to do all sorts of stuff that I couldn’t believe – serving 120 mph bombs, which would make me think I needed to back up to the fence, and on the next point serve drop shots. Guy was acting, right?
Exactly.
Jennifer · June 3, 2012 at 1:44 am
To clarify, I’m not cheering for Murray to win his first major in Paris. I just don’t think he deserves to be accused of something when you have no way of knowing the actual facts. You are not Murray or his trainer, physio, etc. It is very easy and very cowardly to accuse people in print when they have no way of defending themselves. No matter the total innocence of the person they are tainted with this malicious attack…and now you have added Nadal and Djokovic to your list of victims.
If I really believed that most tennis players were dishonourable enough to fake injuries I would stop watching immediately. Some may do that but unless it is an undisputable fact we have no right to undermine their characters or their achievements with unfounded accusations. It is really irresponsible to treat people this way. Even famous people deserve to be treated with integrity.
Scoop Malinowski · June 3, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Jennifer I love Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and any player even if they do on occasion fake an injury to gain an upper hand in the match. I witnessed Djokovic collapse twice on the court vs. Monfils at the US Open in the fifth set on a HOT day when both were still teenagers. Djokovic collapsed twice after losing long points and the second time he was down for about ten minutes with trainers helping him. I worried that he might die of a heart attack, that’s how terrible he seemed to feel. Of course he got up and WON the match LOL. So he took us all for a ride, including Monfils. But that’s the game, when you’re A game isn’t there sometimes the most clever of players use trickery. I also saw Nadal down two sets to one to Petzchner on Center Court at Wimbledon. Nadal called an injury timeout to get his knee problem addressed, though there were no signs of a limp or any pain. After about a ten minute delay Nadal got up and played like he had a bionic knee, running around like gangbusters, no fear or concerns about his knee problem. Of course, Nadal cruised to victory from that point, as the timeout iced poor Petszchner. I have seen Nadal and Djokovic pull these tricks many times but still respect them nonetheless, because it’s all part of the game. Even the great Muhammad Ali pretended he was hurt sometimes to lure his opponents to take risks and then he would counter them. Faking and feigning injury is a brilliant play sometimes and can completely turn around a match. I don’t know if Murray is seriously hurt but since he turned around the match vs. Nieminen everything seems to be fine now. And hopefully his health will stay strong for the rest of this summer. And beyond.
Loreley · June 4, 2012 at 6:49 pm
Federer is the only top player who doesn’t use “injuries” to win.
Scoop Malinowski · June 4, 2012 at 7:02 pm
Agree Loreley, I can’t recall ever seeing Federer fake or exaggerate an injury or call an injury timeout. He is IMO the better, more fair sportsman than Nadal or Djokovic who are very clean but have some questionable moments. We’ll see as Federer approaches the finale of his career and as his skills wane, if he will have to resort to such gamesmanship to pull out matches.