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Australian Open Top Ten Men’s Contenders

By Christopher Weis

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Sep 7, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Andy Murray of Great Britain returns a shot to Kevin Anderson of South Africa on day eight of the 2015 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 7, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Andy Murray of Great Britain returns a shot to Kevin Anderson of South Africa on day eight of the 2015 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /

Andy Murray has shown an uncanny ability to finish as a runner-up at Grand Slam tournaments, especially the Australian Open. In his excellent career, he has been to eight finals at Grand Slams.  Despite that impressive number, he has only won two of them.  At the Australian Open, he has finished runner up four times.  In 2010, he lost to Roger Federer in straight sets. In 2011, he got to the final again, once more losing in straight sets, this time to Novak Djokovic.  He won a set off Djokovic in 2013 and a set off him in 2015, but lost both titles. It would be nice for Murray if, one of these years, he could break through and win one.

That being said, I still think Murray has the ability to win a title here.  He benefits by being the number two seed and avoiding a potential matchup with Roger Federer in the semifinals, especially after the way Federer clinically dismantled him at the Wimbledon semis last year.  Partially because of the draw but also partially because of his excellent history of four second-place finishes, I think that Murray has the second-best hope of lifting the Australian Open trophy when all is said and done.

Next: 1. Exactly Who'd You Expect

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