Tuesday, September 11, 2012
what a long wait. this deserves a post to capture my emotions.
In January 2010, I was at Ben's house. I think I was watching one of the early stages of the Australian Open. I almost never watched any sports prior to that. Even for tennis, I probably only caught a few glimpses of it previously at my friends' houses. Somehow I was quite drawn to the match that was shown at Ben's house. Specifically, one of the players caught my eye.
I was wondering who that guy with the curly and unkempt hair was. His style of play kind of appealed to me. After finding out more about him online, that was when I started watching tennis. And that was when I started supporting Andy Murray.
That year, I watched the finals. Learning how to use Sopcast to stream sports matches online for the first time ever for the semi-finals I think. The finals was quite agonising to watch. Federer practically thrashed Murray to take the match in straight sets. It was tough to watch as Murray looked like he lost even before the match went halfway. His body language and performance just was not there.
After that, I started to watch the Grand Slam tournaments, getting more and more engaged in watching Andy Murray along the way. I heard of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal before watching tennis and of course knew about how legendary Federer is. And he still is. But, somehow I just supported Andy Murray only.
He did not play really well in 2010 and had a huge slump after losing the Australian Open finals. It was quite frustrating to watch him being struck off tournament after tournament. I was not a huge fan by then still. However, when January came again in 2011, I was watching the Australian Open closely this time, from the start. Murray was doing well through the stages. And once again, he got into the finals.
I watched with a keen eye to see how much he has improved since the previous finals back at Melbourne. He crumbled once again. Djokovic dominated him for most of the match and he went down in straight sets once again. There were glimmers of brilliance from him occasionally but it was never enough to take Djokovic down. It was over before I knew it.
It was then that I realised that there was so much pressure on him and so much criticism about him. Federer jibed something along the lines that Murray was facing so much burden as Britain hadn't had a male Grand Slam champion in like 100 years. And critics from everywhere were piling scant remarks on him, saying that he's an angry kid who couldn't keep a cap on his emotions. That he can't deal with the pressure on the big stages. That he plays too defensively. The British press was exceptionally rough on him and there was the joke that in UK, whenever he wins, he's British and when he loses, he's Scottish.
It was quite horrifying to see that this man had to endure so much crap from everyone. There were people saying he was in the wrong time, trying to win a Grand Slam title in the age of having 3 of the finest tennis players ever, arguably. But, most knew that he has the skills and the ability to win. At the end of the day, it boils down to his mental fortitude.
Nowadays, on retrospect, I knew why I supported him. I knew why I supported him unequivocally, over the greatest tennis player of all time, Roger Federer (no matter how people try to argue, it can't be denied he's the best ever), over the one that challenged and conquered the greatest player of all time on so many occasions and has rose to legendary status on his own too, Rafael Nadal, and lastly, over the one that ran off with a 43 match winning streak in 2011 and captured the No. 1 ranking in grand style, Novak Djokovic. Frankly, compared to this trio, Murray appeared lacklustre and always seemed to be struggling to keep up with these three. Together they were known as the Big Four of Tennis, however, Murray was the odd one out, with a glaring lack of any Grand Slam titles to his name.
But I supported him still because so many things about him resonate so well with me. Though I would say the curly hair is one of the more prominent ones, there are so many more that help me identify with his struggle along the way. He was often commented on letting his negative emotions show on court and affect his performance. On not being able to rise to the occasion when it was required. That was glaring when comparing his performance at non-Grand Slam tournaments. In the Masters series, he dispatched the top 3 well, and sometimes with ease. I once watched him play in the Rakuten Japan Open in 2011, where in the finals, he actually gifted Nadal a bagel (to win 6-0 in a set) in the final set and he won 24 out of 28 points in that set alone. He is the only active player apart from Nadal to have a positive head-to-head record against Roger Federer.
As I watched him lose the men's singles finals in Australian Open 2011, I made a promise to myself. Murray really improved from his previous finals in 2010, though it still wasn't enough. I told myself that as I watched Murray improve, I will work on myself too. To not let my emotions hang on my sleeve and let them affect me greatly. To toughen the mental mettle. I promised that when the day arrives where Murray can cast aside his demons and capture his first Grand Slam title, I would strive to do the same for myself. It does not mean that I would not try along the way, but it means that this man would be the role model for me.
And I continued following his progress through the year. I picked up tennis in school too. Once again, he slumped after the loss in the finals. I waited. And near the end of the year, he rose. In awesome fashion. He captured a string of titles in the lead-up to the World Tour Finals and actually won both the singles and the doubles crown in Japan. He was on the way to his goal of ending the year ranked No.3, ahead of Roger Federer. Even though it did not happen in the end, his form was showing very well.
Then at the end of the year, Ivan Lendl joined his team and it caused waves across the tennis scene. Lendl himself was a former multiple Grand Slam champion, but only after losing 4 finals at the Grand Slam tournaments. Many were waiting to see if Lendl could effect a change in Murray that so many coaches have tried in futility.
The effect was amazing. There were obvious changes to Murray and he started to look different, in terms of how he played. Many were awed by how Lendl caused this in such a short period of time. When the Australian Open arrived once again, I kept my hopes high this time. And Murray did not disappoint the hopes of so many.
He did not win the title. His third try at a Grand Slam tournament finals. But he did not let anyone down. The semi-finals against Djokovic had the quality of a Grand Slam final and Murray played awesomely. He lost by a fine margin at the end of the 5 sets, in a tiebreak after 4 hours and 50 minutes. Many were proud of his performance and I myself was extremely happy with that, even though he did not make the finals this year.
This time, he did not slump after his loss. He continued to work hard. Even when during the French Open, where he suddenly appeared to have had a serious back problem in the match against Nieminen, he fought on and overcame his opponent. Only to have a former British Grand Slam champion, Virginia Wade, calling him a "drama queen". Even back at home, he has to deal with all these. Throughout the years, it seems the British media and people loved Tim Henman, the previous British No. 1, much more than Andy Murray.
His on-court demeanour and behaviour in press conferences did not endear him to many. But, he's not here to please everyone. He's here to play tennis. And after the French Open ended, Wimbledon was up next. He failed to defend his title at Queen's but went into Wimbledon and stormed into the finals, to face Roger Federer.
There was immense expectations from the man who became the first British Wimbledon finalist since 1938. I was at the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) and thankfully, got to run off from my shift early to catch the match. I was listening to the Wimbledon radio on my phone as I was rushing back to my laptop and heard him win the first set. The first time he actually captured a set in a Grand Slam final. And this was his fourth one already. However, the retractable roof came on due to the weather and Federer was playing probably some of his best tennis ever. He remains undefeated under a retractable roof and Murray lost simply because his opponent was too good. But his body language and everything else from him has changed so much, since his last Grand Slam final. In his speech, he teared and thanked the crowds for giving him so much support. That was when Britain started to throw their support behind Murray. It wasn't the first time he was brought to tears after losing a Grand Slam finals match, but this time he showed the world that he is really edging closer.
At the London Olympics 2012, he showed the world what he was made of. With the awesome home ground support back at Wimbledon grounds, he defeated Djokovic in the semi-finals and Federer in the finals in straight sets. He played brilliantly and avenged the loss to Federer from a month ago, back at the same place, in Centre Court. He won the gold medal in men's singles and the silver medal in mixed doubles alongside Laura Robson for Britain.
His dazzling summer did not come to an end there. People were waiting to see when he would end the Grand Slam drought for Britain after winning the gold medal with such style. The US Open is the last Grand Slam tournament of the year. His last chance for the year.
Murray started off the tournament quite fine, clearing the first two rounds quite easily. He had a tough time in the third round, enduring a 4-set match against Feliciano Lopez and winning sets based on tiebreaks. In the next match, he was up against Milos Raonic, widely reputed as the best amongst the rising young players. Murray played near perfect tennis and totally dismantled the powerful serve of the Canadian. No matter what Raonic did, Murray crushed it perfectly well. However, he struggled once again against Cilic in the quarter-finals.
Entering the semi-finals, Tomas Berdych took the first set and was looking very threatening. However, Murray adapted well to the strong winds on the court and won the match with quite some difficulty. After Federer was knocked out and Nadal withdrawn from the tournament, Djokovic was the only one left in Murray's path to the elusive Grand Slam title.
Last night, I forced myself to sleep early at 10.30pm so that I could wake up at 4am to watch the finals. I was trying out some new sleep tracking app and it turned out the alarm did not wake me up. Thankfully, I woke up somehow on my own at 5am and by the time I turned on my computer, it was almost the start of the tiebreak.
Murray won the first two sets but went down in the next two. I was reminded of how frustrated I was watching him in the past few finals. However, he did not crumble this time. He rose in the final set and played like a champion. And when he closed out the set, I was beyond happy. I cannot describe how I felt. In fact, I was already tearing in joy at certain points in the fifth set. I knew he was not going to let this slip past him anymore.
And he didn't. There wasn't a moment of doubt after he took the break in the fifth set. The first male Grand Slam champion since 1936, where Fred Perry did it at the US Championships (the former US Open). A wait of nearly 3 years. And I finally get to see Andy lift the champion's trophy of a Grand Slam tournament. It was worth the wait. More than worth it.
And it's time to fulfil my promise. I will continue to support Andy Murray and maybe he'll win Australian Open next year. Maybe he'll go on the same streak as his coach, Lendl, did. But for now, I'm just going to celebrate his victory. Spot me in my England t-shirt today. Hahahahahaha! :D
rotted-12:25 PM
