July 2011

So Murray’s out.

At least he played some great tennis along the way. He seemed to have sorted out his frail mental state and progressed through the rounds looking assured and in control. The second set and particularly the third set against Gasquet saw him play some of the best tennis we have seen from him. Ljubicic was put in his place. He came through the quarter final against Lopez who had served more aces than any other player at these championships and won easily.

So we looked at his chances of beating the current world number 1 player in the semi final of the biggest tournament in the world. If he could maintain the aggressive style he had a great chance. If he could continue to serve well then he was in with a realistic shot of making it to the final. If he could stick to the game plan that had got him to the semi final we might just see a Brit in the final.

So the match starts with the crowd behind him and the words of his team ringing in his ears. Stick to the plan. Be aggressive. First set’s going well. Holding serve easily and putting pressure on Nadal’s serve. He gets the break and takes the first set!! He’s on his way. Nothing can stop him now!

Second set and he’s playing the same style. The game plan’s working great!

2-2 and Nadal’s service game……0-15…..15-15………15-30….cmon!! Murray plays a great point and Nadal puts up a high defensive shot…………Murray smashes it out of the court…….bollox!

He should have had 2 break points and kept the pressure on the Spaniard but now its 30-30……40-30…….game Nadal.

I commented in the chat room that Murray may regret that miss. I was spot on. That one shot caused the Scot ( yeah he’s Scottish now he’s out) to pretty much crumble. He was broken in the very next game and didn’t win another game in that set. He then went 2-0 down in the third set and Nadal wasn’t going to let him back into the match.

So why can 1 point effectively make him forget the plan and start to play worse? Well in the early games the words of his team are still fresh in his mind but once he is on the court he is on his own. The more pressure he is under the more the natural reaction is to revert to normal thoughts and behaviour. That missed smash reminded him that he really doesn’t believe he can get to the final never mind win the thing and secondly that he doesn’t believe he can beat Nadal at Wimbledon.

Now lets keep it in perspective. He is a successful tennis player. Currently number 4 in the world and has briefly been ranked 2 in the world. He’s hardly a failure. Its hardly his fault that we can’t produce anyone to take some of the pressure off him. Who else will we pin our hopes on in the big tournaments? James Ward? Daniel Cox?

The bottom line is that in Britain we don’t breed champions in the numbers that the other nations do. Our kids are told that its not the winning but  the taking part that matters. You must learn to be a good loser. Its best to avoid competition as the losers will have their feelings hurt. So kids learn their excuses early. “My tummy hurts” , “I’m not feeling well”, “I’m not good at sport”, “can I watch TV?”.

Murray’s press conference was pathetic. “I tried my hardest. That’s all you can do”.

No disgrace to lose to Nadal at Wmbledon. However if he could lose and show some bollocks along the way we’d be happier.

Any Brits that succeed do so despite the system, not because of it. Health and safety morons stop kids taking any risks so we have a mass of youngsters who are wrapped up in cotton wool until they leave school. By that time they’re so bone idle that the thought of getting off their arses to play sports just doesn’t appeal to them.

But at least they’re safe. Safely at the bottom in just about every sport you can think of.

Great Britain? Don’t make me laugh.