MURRAY SHAKES UP NYC

 

 

It was time for the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open. OK so most of the UK's attention is generally focussed on Wimbledon but Andy Murray does happen to be the 2004 US Open junior champion so there are those who think he has a better chance of winning this event than Wimbledon. Added to that he was coming in to the Flushing Meadows tournament off the back of his first Masters tournament win in Cincinatti and there was the possibility of anything happening. Andy's previous results had earned him the number 6 seed which in theory put him on course to match his quarter final appearance at Wimbledon and that would have been cool enough.

In the first round he faced Argentine Sergio Rottman. I'd never heard of Rottman before and Andy's opponent certainly seemed out of his depth early on, the Scot breaking serve at the first opportunity and not looking back to take the first set. Rottman stepped up a gear in the second set, winning the opening game and matching Andy for a bit but the break wasn't too much trouble for Murray. The third set proved to be no problem whatsoever and Murray won the match 6-3 6-4 6-0. Result was never really in doubt and wouldn't have been a big deal to Andy. In the women's tournament, credit to Anne Keothavong is due for beating American Alexa Glatch 6-2 6-2.

In the second round for Murray came Michael Llodra. The Frenchman proved to be a much tougher challenge, winning the opening game with Andy only able to break him late on in the first set. Llodra stepped up a further hear in the second set to catch the number 6 seed completely on the hop, breaking him at the first opportunity on his way to dominating the second set, levellling the match. The third set proved to be a rough ride, Murray winning the opening game but the Llodra serve seemed to be impossible to break...until Andy did so at the last possible opportunity, forcing a fourth set. Llodra broke immediately only for Murray to break back just as quick and one further break each forced the set into an equally tight tiebreak which Andy claimed to win the match 6-4 1-6 7-5 7-6(9-7) and Keothavong beat Italian 25th seed Francesca Schiavone 6-2 3-6 6-4 to become the first British woman in the third round of the US Open since 1991!

In the third round for Murray came Jurgen Melzer. The Austrian tends to provide decent opposition and sure enough, made his serve impossible to break, not only that though, he won the resulting tie-break! The second set started out equally tight untill Murray serves to stay in the set...but messes it up completely. Anyone who remembered the Gasquet match at Wimbledon this year would have been getting a sense of deja vu. Andy didn't leave it quite as late as he did last time round but the Melzer serve was borken at long last only for the Austrian to break back at the last possible opportunity before Murray got himself a lifeline by winning the second tiebreak of the match. More deja vu in the fourth set as Melzer had no answer for Andy's class, thus setting up a fifth. The fifth set proved to be much tighter but the Melzer serve finally broke for good and Murry won the match 6-7(5-7) 4-6 7-6(7-5) 6-1 6-3 putting him in the 4th round of the US Open for the first time since '06! Keothavong's impressive journey came to an end though, losing to 5th seed Elena Dementieva 3-6 4-6!

So that left Andy as the last Brit standing and in the fourth round he faced Stanlaus Wawrinka, Swiss number 2 and 10th seed. The first set was a cinch for Murray. Wawrinka put up a fight for the second set but even then the Scotsman appeared to be taking the mick out of his friend. Andy broke serve to find himself two sets up. In the third set, Murray broke serve at the second opportunity, at which point there was no way for Wawrinka to catch him. From the insane to the tame, Murray won 6-1 6-3 6-3 and I had to remind myself that this was the first time he's reached the US Open quarter finals, his second Grand Slam quarter final in a row and the last Brit to make the US Open quarters was Tim Henman in '04!

He then had a stroke of luck in the quarters. Juan Martin del Potro. Had you heard of him before this tournament? No, neither had I. Argie 17th seed on a 23 game winning streak apparantly. He certainly proved to be a stubborn git, coming back from 3-0 down in the first set to force a tie break which Murray managed to win. The second set was tight all the way through, Andy breaking late on only to throw it away, forcing another tiebreak which again he won. Murray broke early on in the third, only for Del Potro to not only break right back but go on to break a second time, thus forcing a fourth set. Del Portro broke Andy at the first opportunity here only for the Scot to break back at the first opportunity. A further exchange of breaks later and del Potro was serving to stay in the set...and was broken by Andy who won the match 7-6(7-2) 7-6(7-1) 4-6 7-5 to make his first ever Grand Slam semi.

There his luck appeared to run out. Up against him was nemisis Rafael Nadal. Number 1 seed as if Andy needed any more warnings. This time out though, Murray manages to break serve at the second time of asking and goes on to blitz the world number 1! The second set was much tighter though and went into a tiebreak...which Murray managed to win! Nadal finally broke the Murray serve first time of asking in the third...only for rain to stop play at 3-2 Nadal. The match restarted and Nadal was able to force a fourth set. Nadal was the first to bereak in the fourth after a marathon on the Murray serve but Murray goes on to level it and breaks the Nadal serve again to win an absolutely historic encounter 6-2 7-6(7-5) 4-6 6-4 to become the first Brit to reach a Grand Slam final since Greg Rusedski in the US Open of '97!

So, Andy Murray in the US Open final. He was up against Roger Federer, the man who dominated world tennis untill Nadal's recent surge. Federer appeared to be playing a level up from Murray from the start though - there was only one way the first set was going to go. Federer broke serve at the first time of asking in the second but Andy broke straight back and the set become much tighter but eventually, Federer claimed it. And Andy was unable to offer much resistance in the third, losing 2-6 5-7 2-6. The extent of the capitulation was dissapointing given that Andy did have a good record against the Swiss legend, but still, a Grand Slam final this early in his career with a run that includes the scalp of the world number 1? I won't be waiting another 11 years to see the next British Grand Slam finalist! Wimbledon '09 anyone?

Credit where credit's due though you have to congratulate Roger Federer for winning the 2008 US Open. It's his fifth USO title in a row and amazingly his first of the year. That just shows you how good Nadal's been this year but Roger was really the guy who picked up the baton of undisputed master of world tennis from Pete Samprass. He's also still the right side of 30 and there's nothing stopping him from using this as a springboard back to the world number 1 position. OK, so what was the "big two" at the start of the year has now become the "big four" with Djokovic and now Andy joining the party but the win proves that we haven't heard the last of Federer yet either!

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