Andy Murray: Can he bounce back from Wimbledon heartbreak?

By Geoff Nichols | Jul 13, 2015

Andy Murray: Can he bounce back from Wimbledon heartbreak?

Andy Murray was understandably distraught after his Wimbledon exit. An emphatic straight sets humbling to an inspired Roger Federer saw his campaign for a second title come to an abrupt end. It is a measure of how far he has come as a player that he will regard a Wimbledon semi final as a tremendous disappointment.

Unlike after previous defeats where Murray has struggled for form and motivation, this ought to elicit a different reaction. At 28 years old, he has had his fair share of tough defeats and whilst they probably don’t hurt any less, he has become hardened and can bounce back.

In the immediate aftermath, Murray took solace in the fact that he played and executed his game plan. He seems to have already accepted that Federer was near unbeatable. Whilst this may seem like a defeatist attitude from a player at the highest level, if it avoids dwelling on what could have been, I don’t see the harm.

Federer posted first serve numbers that you have to look twice at. A first serve percentage above 80% would have been impressive in a match where he was rolling them in. The fact that he was painting the lines from the first delivery made the mission of breaking serve very, very difficult.

More from Andy Murray

In the extended rallies, Murray was gaining traction and winning the majority of points. Federer’s game plan was to shorten points, but this is far from revolutionary against the Brit. The way he executed the plan was the impressive part.

Off the court factors should also ease Murray’s woes. He has made it clear that there is a strong correlation between happiness on and off court. His recent marriage has translated to fantastic form on the court, one loss cannot undo that.

Having reached the Wimbledon semi finals, Murray is still having one of the best years of his career. The fact that he is now a contender at the French Open will be hugely heartening when he reflects on his clay court form at the end of the year. It means he will seriously contest all four Grand Slams, conceivably for another 5 or 6 years.

His new outlook on life has translated to tennis is another way. The undoubted obsession he held with the Grand Slams seems to have been tempered. Murray is now relishing the challenge of competing week in week out, which contributed in a big way to his first two clay court titles.

Another story that dominated the opening few days of Wimbledon was the other British players who were making waves through the draw. Murray clearly revels in the camaraderie, especially with the likes of James Ward, the pair now regular hitting partners and good friends.

Murray’s growing relationships with British players seems to have made the tour less of a solo effort. He passes on knowledge and even invites them to his now infamous Miami training camp in the off season. He has even taken to training with the young up and comers, like Thanasi Kokkinakis, t0maintain his motivation.

With the somewhat debatable scheduling, Murray can almost immediately refocus his motivations onto the Davis Cup which resumes at the quarter final stage on Friday. He has tremendous pride at representing his country and Great Britain certainly have a sniff with the world number 3 on board.

It was the event after one if his toughest losses, the Wimbledon 2012 final, which showed that Murray had character by the bucket load. He used the loss as motivation as he remained on the grass for the 2012 Olympics.

He played like a man possessed, beating Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in consecutive matches, without dropping a set. The Davis Cup tie against France is at a similar level, in terms of a challenge and also meaning.

It would take a bold man to go against Murray registering two singles wins for Great Britain on the grass courts of Queens Club. He may even play the pivotal doubles rubber, catalysing his country back to the forefront of world tennis almost single handily.

Next: Wimbledon 2015: Top 5 Upsets in Men's Draw

More from Lob and Smash

Home/Andy Murray