Murray's such an underachiever taking into account his talent and what Djoker and Nadal achieved in comparison. Sadly, he
a) is a mental midget compared to them
b) doesn't recover from physically brutal matches as easily
c) 2nd serve
d) pressure of not winning a slam for so long really got into him at one point, luckily no longer the case
e) f) g) h) mental midget compared to Djokovic and Nadal
But yeah, he's return is phenomenal, he reads serves so much earlier than any other guy. Here's hoping he starts catching up with them (outside clay) starting this week.
My primary problem with him is when he starts beating himself up on the court. Once he starts straying from utter perfection he starts ranting at himself, either verbally or through body language or by abusing his entourage in the seats who can do bugger all about it.
I thought it was his opponent's job to beat him up but he seems to be quite happy to do it to himself if things don't go exactly as he thinks they should. That is just elementary weakness and should have been knocked out of him at an elementary stage given any pretence that he should engage in a competitive environment.
I wouldn't mind but does this help him get to where he wants to go? I would guess that 99% of the time the answer would be no. If his objective is to win his match does him whining at the end of the court help or hinder his opponent? Frankly he really needed to be taken in hand at a very early age and slapped into shape until he grew up. He's in his mid 20's; acting like an ill tempered child is embarrassing. Although from someone I know who was around the Murrays when he was a child, even his mother was tested where he was concerned. The word 'willful" comes to mind. If that brings him multiple Championships then more to the good but if not...
If he wishes to absorb one aspect of his coach's wisdom it should be this: Lendl's robotic, utter perfectionist, professional zeal for being the best, maximising of one's potential, approach to the game. For those who are too young to appreciate Lendl in his prime he was a beautiful Terminator of a player. He would just turn up and dispose of 99% of his opponents and generally only encounter any trouble when he had a McEnroe or Connors to deal with. Even then he'd go back and work at it until he persevered. He was such a professional and I adored him for his approach. I only hope that Murray is wise enough to learn from this.
EDIT: Murray is such a beautifully gifted player it is painful to watch him not realise his potential amongst his puerile on court mannerisms and missed Grand Slam chances. He could quite easily be the most successful player of his generation but seeing him fritter it away really hurts.
