Is Andy Murray Making The Leap?

Andy Murray

Tennis is an intensely psychological sport. In a singles match, a player is completely on his own without any guidance or instruction from a coach. One of the most important characteristics required of any great tennis champion is an unwavering belief in one’s ability to succeed. Winning a point or game can help a player believe that he has a good chance of winning the match. Similarly, winning a major tournament gives a player the confidence that he is capable of winning more tournaments in the future and the resulting snowball effect can lead to many years of success. On the other hand, confidence can be very fragile in tennis. Losing a point can be difficult to overcome and losing a championship can be devastating. Andy Murray attained that ever so important confidence this summer and that explains why he was able to win an Olympic gold medal in London and his first Grand Slam title at the US Open.

17 players have made five Grand Slam finals in the Open Era, which began in 1968. A player who has made a Grand Slam final five times in their career has clearly demonstrated that he possesses the talent and the consistency to be a great champion. Of the aforementioned 17 players, 14 of them have won at least four major championships. The other three are Ilie Nastase, recently retired Andy Roddick (who could not win more because of the steady dominance of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal era) and Andy Murray who may be on the verge of a career breakthrough. The 25-year-old Murray has exhibited the mental fortitude to overcome tough losses, as he is currently playing his best tennis despite losing four finals early in his career. Now it seems that he truly believes he can beat Nadal, Federer, and Novak Djokovic (the three players with the most titles currently on tour), an attitude that allowed him to achieve a great deal of success this summer. The door is wide open for Murray, as Nadal is currently having major knee issues and Federer is not the dominant force he once was.

As I mentioned earlier, the inner belief in one’s ability to succeed is vital to consistently performing at a championship level. If Murray can win four grand slams by the time his career is over after struggling to win one for so long, he would have completed a remarkable turnaround. He has the perfect mentor to help him undergo this reversal in Ivan Lendl. Lendl can relate to Murray because he struggled similarly in grand slam finals at the start of his career, as he also lost his first four finals. He ultimately became one of the best to ever play the game, winning eight grand slam championships, tied for sixth most of all time.

The 2012 U.S. Open Champion

Other than Lendl and Andre Agassi (who lost his first three finals and also went on to win eight), most players who lost their first two Grand Slam finals struggled to recover. Seven of the other nine guys who lost in their first two Grand Slam championships either never made it back to the finals or are still playing and haven’t made it back yet. Andy Murray proved at the U.S. Open last week and at the Olympics this summer that he has recovered from his early defeats. Based on the performances of other players who made five grand slam finals in their careers, Murray could be primed for a few years of major success and he has the perfect coach in Lendl to guide him on the way. Murray avoided becoming the first player to lose his first 5 major championships; instead, he seems ready to ascend to a new level of greatness.