31st August 2007
At this tournament, far away from Henman Hill, the People’s Saturday, and Pimm’s cups with side orders of strawberries and cream, Murray is strictly a tennis story. His gritty 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 second-round win over Jonas Bjorkman on Thursday afternoon was just his fifth match since damaging the tendons in his racket wrist at Hamburg in May. Along with his health, his on-court mood has considerably improved, and part of credit goes to Roberto Forzoni, the Lawn Tennis Association’s sports psychology manager who started working with Murray earlier this month.
Fans on the sun-baked Grandstand were offered the full Murray on Thursday. There was terrific imagination and shot-making ability (he had 32 forehand winners and 17 backhand winners) mixed with appalling lapses of concentration. Murray often has a hangdog look on the court and looked like a man about to collapse at certain points of the final two sets. But he quickly found confidence after breaking Bjorkman early in the fifth set and finished with gusto to take out his opponent in 3 hours and 37 minutes. The Swede, fit as a fiddle at age 35, found his sterling record in five-set matches fall to 29-13.
“He has a little bit of everything, that’s why it’s hard to play him,” says Bjorkman. “He mixes up the pace, serves well. What I think his biggest strength is that he doesn’t give you too many easy points. He makes you play a lot.”
As inspiration for his match against Bjorkman, Forzoni showed Murray video clips ofMuhammad Ali being interviewed before fighting Sonny Liston. Murray is a huge boxing fan. He fancies Floyd Mayweather, and religiously watches bouts on ESPN and HBO.
“Everybody hated Ali at the start; they called him cocky and arrogant and whatever else you want to call him,” says Murray, 20. “He believed he was the best. I don’t have a problem with someone sounding cocky and arrogant. If you want to say ‘I’m the best and I’m going to beat this guy, and you do, then that’s fine.’ It’s a different story if you don’t.”
Of course Murray, born in Dunblane, Scotland, is the furthest thing from Ali in terms of style. He’s been called laconic and if that’s too strong, he’s certainly sardonic.
“I don’t think I’ll be doing that too much,” said Murray, laughing, when asked why he doesn’t mimic the young Ali. “It’s frowned upon a bit more than it used to be, especially in tennis. But in the back of my mind, I believe that I can win all the matches I play.”