What on earth is eating Andy Murray?

By The Spotter

Bedevilled in the third and fourth sets by his increasingly frequent Mr. Hyde persona, Andy Murray was ultimately confounded once again by the elastic, relentless Novak Djokovic in the Men’s singles final of the Australian Tennis Open, Djokovic triumphing 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-0.

Almost looking as if he wanted to bash himself more than the ball, it could just be that the Scot’s greatest adversary on the court is actually himself.

Murray certainly never looks much at peace and that’s not even when he’s just put an easy forehand into the net, either.  To say that he’s just a fired-up character is a bit simplistic.

I admit this is pure speculation, but one may well wonder how much psychological impact that horrendous Dunblane School massacre had on a young Murray, as he cowered under his desk from the gunman’s rounds. Then again, you could argue that to have gotten to where he is in tennis from such a painful past would have required huge amounts of fortitude.

In the final on Rod Laver arena, why did Murray frequently see it necessary to look to his team for a strategy?  Why do some modern-day players have such a need to do this as soon as the opponent looks like getting the upper-hand?  Past greats such as Sampras, Agassi or Graf never pleaded for help when things got a bit tough.  Wouldn’t an ability to think more for oneself under pressure relate to better peace of mind for that person?

Andy Murray should, and hopefully will, win many more major events.  The main thing stopping him though might be his agitated self.