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Andy Murray having career year in 2015

By Geoff Nichols

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Andy Murray having career year in 2015

Andy Murray has registered more wins at this stage of the year than in any previous throughout his career. Despite failing to add to his major tally in 2015, the Britain has bounced back emphatically from a shaky 2014, showing renewed motivation and unheralded levels of aggression.

Such is his form this year, a semi final exit at Wimbledon proved to be a tremendous disappointment. Defeat to Roger Federer, in straight sets, was arguably the most unlikely outcome from their clash. Having placed huge expectation on himself more than anything, it was another defeat that hurt him dear.

However, Murray has matured in his response to setbacks in recent years. Early in his career he would carry the emotional baggage of a big defeat for the next couple of months, suffering lacklustre losses to lower ranked opponents.

Clay Court Resurgence

The resurgence on clay is perhaps the strongest evidence of Murray’s commitment to continue improving. For the last few years he has seemed to be keen to get in and out of the clay court season as quickly as possible, entering the Masters exclusively before heading to Roland Garros.

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This year he changed his approach, entering an ATP 250 in Munich where he was the top seed on the clay. It must have been one of the first, if not the only time where he has been the top seed at a clay court event. The new strategy worked wonders.

Being the favourite for the title and getting wins under his belt gave him a new lease of life on the surface that in his teenage years was apparent his most preferred. He kicked on from winning in Munich to lift his first Masters 1000 title on the clay.

His showing at Roland Garros cemented a new approach to the red dirt, where his fallibility to Novak Djokovic more than his actual tennis was the barrier to his first final in Paris. The rivalry with the Serb, another big talking point entirely, perhaps is the only black mark for Murray in 2015.

Rivalry With Novak Djokovic

Murray’s recent inability to figure out solutions against world number one Djokovic is proving troublesome. At least in comparison with 2014, they are now meeting in semi finals and finals, but still it is the biggest barrier to his transition into a dominate force in Masters and more importantly majors.

The statistics tell their own story. Almost half of Murray’s losses in the last calendar year are to Djokovic, which in itself in astounding. Remove the World Tour Finals and any 250 and 500 events from the mix and a huge proportion of Murray’s exits are at the hands of the Serb.

It is theme that Murray needs to curb quickly. Djokovic is a an irresistible force without a doubt and there is no easy way to get the edge over him. In 2013, when Murray seemed to have the upper hand in their rivalry, he took him on physically and may need to look to that approach again.

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

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