29th August 2007
..the scowling Scot who spent much of his matches admonishing himself and others – the comments were usually made in the general direction of his coach, Brad Gilbert – had gone. In his place was a young man focused on the task in hand and determined to enjoy his tennis.The influence of Roberto Forzoni, who began working with Murray earlier this month and flew here to watch his 6-2, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Pablo Cuevas, is evident. A sports psychologist who helped West Ham United’s players escape relegation from the Premiership last season, Forzoni encouraged Murray to think positively about his recovery from the wrist injury that wrecked his summer plans.
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Having been reluctant to unleash his forehands for fear of causing further damage to the tendons in his racket wrist, Murray rediscovered his confidence, particularly after hitting a glorious running winner midway through the first set.
“That’s the first time I’d really hit out 100 per cent on my forehand,” he said afterwards. “It’s easy during practice, when the ball’s straight to you, but when you’re on the run it’s a reaction. It’s completely different. After that I felt much more confident hitting out on it.”
Forzoni appears to have helped Murray take a more positive approach to his whole game. The Scot has long recognised that he needed to address his demeanour on court – “maybe I speak a little bit too much and got a little bit negative,” he admitted after his defeat to Nikolay Davydenko here 12 months ago – and against Cuevas he looked more at ease with himself. Most departments of his game, and particularly his first serve, looked in good shape