Andy Murray – Expect More from the Scot

If in 1936, after Fred Perry had won the Wimbledon for the 3^rd consecutive time, someone had said that it would take another 76 years for any British male athlete to win a tennis Grand Slam, no one would have taken him seriously. That, however, had been the case and the man who has finally broken the curse is the current world number 3, Andy Murray.

I must say that the success at Flushing Meadows had been coming given his performances in the last few years. Over the last few years, he has made the finals of the US Open and the Australian Open. In fact, last year he managed to get to at least the semi-finals of all the Grand Slams. In addition, prior to 2012 he had also managed to win two ATP World Series Masters events for the last four years and managed to win a host of other tour events. Not to mention the small matter of winning the gold medal at the summer Olympics in London. Not too many can lay claim to the fact that they won a gold medal in their own backyard and did so by beating the best tennis player ever in my opinion, Roger Federer. Visually too one can make out that Andy is playing with a style and the swagger of a person who believes in his own ability.

If you are a fan of Andy Murray, then you can expect more of the same if not better in coming years. I expect Andy to win a fair few Grand Slams and tour events in the next few years. For me there are many reasons to believe that would indeed be the case. For one, at 25 he is at the peak of his powers and his best years lie ahead of him. Success breeds success and this watershed event could breed many stories like the US Open for Andy. The influence of Ivan Lendl can also not be ignored, a person who has won eight Grand Slams can have a profound influence on any one and having him in his corner has definitely helped Murray. It just cannot be a coincidence that Lendl also lost four Grand Slam finals before winning at Roland Garros in 1984.

The next goal for Andy should be to achieve the Numero Uno status. Largely you are responsible for what you do, but in this case the performances of certain Mr Nadal, Federer and Djokovic will also have a bearing on who wins what. They could win many or at least a big chunk of coming Grand Slams or may not win any of them. Players like Tsonga and Del Potro and others will also have some say in what goes on.

I, for one, feel that Andy has the game to go a long way in the sport; it now comes down to the hunger the desire and the fitness of the man. Given what has happened, I doubt that those would be a problem. So if you are a fan of tennis and Andy Murray, I think you are going to enjoy how the next 5-7 years turn out. Who knows, you may even see him crying at the centre court at Wimbledon, just this time, holding the winner’s trophy.