Dear Andy Murray, qué pasa?

Poor Andy Murray, it looks like his slump this year is much worse than the 2010 post-Aussie Open slump, especially in his head.  

After the 2010 Aussie Open, Murray went on to lose relatively early in the next four tournaments he played in.  At the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, he was taken out in the second round by Janko Tipsarevic 7 (3) -6, 4-6, 6-4.  He made it to the quarter finals of the 2010 BNP Paribas Indian Wells, losing to Robin Soderling 1-6, 6-7 (4).  At the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open he had a bye into the second round, but was beaten by American, Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-4.  He requested a wildcard into the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters to avoid losing his number 4 ranking to Juan Martin Del Potro, but he lost in the second round to Philipp Kohlscreiber 6-2, 6-1. 

So far, since his miserable straight set loss to 'Man on Fire', aka Novak Djokovic in the 2011 Australian Open final, Andy has not been able to win a set in three tournaments.  Not only has he not won a set, he's lost to players he should be beating easily. Playing at Rotterdam he lost to Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-1 in the first round.  That wasn't terrible as Baghdatis was once ranked as high as number eight in the world, but getting taking out by two players outside of the top 100, Donald Young 6-7 (4), 3-6 in the first round at BNP Paribas Indian Wells and again in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open by qualifier, Alex Bogomolov Jr 6-1, 7-5 is deplorable for a player of his talents.

Many have given their opinions about what's causing his 'issues'. Martina Navratilova says Britain's Andy Murray needs "a change in attitude" to win a first Grand Slam title.  Ivan Lendl thinks he can help the Scot...if anyone knows Andy's troubles, Ivan Lendl does.

I personally believe that he is not as mentally strong as he is physically, and that he needs to stop playing so passively when he gets to the big matches.  I believe he needs to get his mum out of his coaching box, and get someone who is not a "yes" man/woman, someone who is not going to coddle him.  He needs to stop changing coaches like they are underwear (he recently parted ways w/Alex Corretja).  Simply put, Mr. Murray needs to stop sulking and man up.

Novak Djokovic takes Federer down a notch (in the rankings)

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic defeats Roger Federer to reach Indian Wells final, and in the process, takes over the number two position in the rankings.  Nole, who still remains undefeated this season, has given Roger his only three defeats of the year.  Next up will be Rafael Nadal today in the finals.  Rafa took out the resurgent Del Po in straight sets in Saturday's first semi final match.

Roger Federer

Nole started the semifinal match off strong, breaking Roger at 2 all go up 3-2 in the first set.  Then with Roger serving at 3-5, Djokovic breaks again to take the first set 6-3.  The second set saw Roger clean up his game, breaking Nole at 1 all.  Roger broke again at 3-5 to take the set.  Third set was a roller coaster for both guys in the beginning.  Nole breaks Roger in the first game, but then was broken at love while serving at 2-1, double faulting to give Roger the game.  Then the wheels came off the 'Federer Express'  - he was broken serving at 2 all, after being up 40-15 in his service game.  Try as he might, and he did, Roger didn't win another game in the match.  Nole broke his serve at 2-5 to take the game, set & match 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

When the rankings come out Monday, Roger Federer will have slipped down the the number three position, the first time he hasn't been ranked number one or two since 2003.  Nole will hold at least a 75 point led over Federer (8400 to Fed's 8325), 475 points should he win the tournament.  He could conceivably surpass Rafa for the number one ranking before year's end - Rafa has a whooping 10990 points to defend for the rest of the 2011 season - he's the current reigning champion at all three upcoming majors, plus three other Masters 1000 events.  Nole on the other hand only has 4710 points to defend, and if his current level of play continues, he will pick up a lot more.  Roger isn't totally out of the picture, after all he is still Roger Federer, but he does have 6655 points to defend.  Keep in mind he did horribly at the French Open & Wimbledon last year (horribly according to Roger's standards), so he should pick up a few at those tournaments, UNLESS his current level of play continues.  I'm sure he is ready to get the clay court season over, and get some grass under his feet.  The grass always gives him confidence, although he was confident last year when Berdych to him out in the quarters.   

The finals will air today 2pm EST on ABC (women at 2pm & the men at 4pm), and live streaming at livescorehunter.com.  Should be a good match. 'Ajmo' - 'Vamos' - much luck to both guys!  No prediction from me, just anticipation.

Andy Murray crashes out of BNP Paribas - Indian Wells

Andy Murray

Donald Young - ranked 143

Andy Murray's post 2011 Australian Open slump continues - same as last year after his straight set defeat to Roger Federer- but has he hit rock bottom?  After losing in straight sets to Federer in 2010, Murray didn't get past the quarters of the next eight tournaments he played.


He had a bye in the first round in Indian Wells, but his tournament came to quick and dramatic end in the second round when he lost in straight sets 7-6 (4), 6-3  to the 143rd ranked American qualifier, Donald Young.  This was Donald Young's first win over a player in the top 10.   


Since losing miserably to Djokovic at the Australian Open, Murray has only played two tournaments, Rotterdam in early February, and most recently Indian Wells.  At Rotterdam, Marcos Baghdatis beat him like Andy said something bad about his mother, 6-4, 6-1.  Now, the Baghdatis loss can sort of be explained - Baghdatis is currently ranked number 22 in the world, 2006 Australian Open finalist (he even took a set off Roger Federer in that final), and back in 2008 he was ranked as high as number 8.  The defeat to Donald Young can best be explained as the Scot's wheels falling off.  


Hopefully Andy can pull himself out of this slump - I really do like the guy, and hope one day to see him win a major, but the more muggings he takes, the more his head fails to deliver him the belief he needs to make to the winner's circle.

BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells Masters 1000 'Preview'

Rafa

The BNP Paribas Indian Wells tournament, which started on March 7th and runs thru March 20th, is packed with some of the ATP's heavyweights.  Headlining is of course, the world's number one, Rafael Nadal.  At the Australian Open, Rafa struggled with a leg injury he sustained early in the first set of his quarterfinal match against fellow Spainard, David Ferrer.  He's been hush-hush about the injury, but played well last week in Davis Cup action.  Rafa has won at Indian Wells in 2007 and 2009.  Going up against some of the best in the business should how much he has recovered from his leg injury.

Roger Federer

Nole on beach in California

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic , the world's numbers two & three respectively, are also in the draw.  Djokovic could take over the number two position if 1) he wins the tournament, or 2) he reaches the final and Federer loses before the title match, or 3) he reaches the semifinals and Federer loses before the quarters.  Roger currently holds a 165 point lead over Nole - 7965 points for Federer to 7800 points for Djokovic.  Nole is on a fourteen match winning streak, including two wins over Roger Federer (Australian Open semifinals and the finals of the Dubai Duty Free Championships) - both defeats in straight sets.  Roger won at Indian Wells from 2004-2006.  Nole won this tournament back in 2008.  Roger is looking to regain his form, and Nole is playing better and with more confidence that at any point during his career.  Federer and Djokovic could possibly meet in the semifinals if they each make it that far.

Robin Soderling

Andy Murray

Robin Soderling, currently ranked number four, could possibly meet the man he recently overtook for the fourth position in the rankings, Andy Murray, in the quarterfinals.  Soderling has won 3 of the 4 tournaments he has played in this year (Marseille, Rotterdam - both indoor hardcourts, and Brisbane International on an outdoor hardcourt).  He's won a total of nine titles during his career, three of them in the 1st two months of the 2011 season. The Swed is en fuego.   Andy Murray is coming off a very embarrassing disappointing Australian Open final, losing in straight sets to Novak Djokovic, and a first round loss in Rotterdam.  Up until the finals of the Aussie Open, he looked a guy on a mission, since then he's lost his mojo.  If majors were won on game alone, Mr. Murray would already have a couple trophies in his case, but unfortunately for Andy, his head gets in his way.  This isn't a major, so maybe he won't choke.

Milos Raonic

Dolgopolov

Alexandr Dolgoplov and Milos Raonic are two young players on the move, each making their presence known in 2011.  Dolgo started the year ranked number 32, and with some steady play, has moved up to his current ranking of 23.  He had a good run at the Aussie Open, making it to quarterfinals, giving Robin Soderling his only loss in the 2011 season.  He also made it to the finals of Costa Do Suipe, losing to Nicolas Almagro, and made it to the semifinals in Acapulco, losing to eventual winner, David Ferrer.  Milos Raonic started the year ranked 156 in the world and is now the number 37.  At the Aussie Open, he made it to the round of 16, and lost in the finals to Andy Roddick in Memphis.  He won his first ATP tour event at the SAP Open, defeating the Spainard, Fernando Verdasco.

Juan Martin

Juan Martin Del Potro is definitely on the comeback.  After being out the game for almost all of 2010 w/a wrist injury that required surgery, he began 2011 with a ranking of 484, he will enter Indian Wells back inside the top 100, ranked number 90.  Since his comeback, he has one title under his belt at Delray Beach defeating Janko Tipseravic is straight sets.  He's also made to semifinals since his comeback - losing in Memphis to winner Andy Roddick, and losing to Fernando Verdasco at the SAP Open in San Jose.  Juan Martin defeated Radek Stepanek in the first round of Indian Wells on Thursday 6-4, 6-4.

Of course, this isn't the whole field, and it's definitely not a post about the end all, be all in men's tennis, just some of the guys I have my eye on this year.  As always, remember I'm not a tennis expert, I'm just a boy...