What Andy Murray Must Do to Break Through at Australian Open

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: January 13, 2014

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The past two years have seen the breakthrough of Andy Murray. The Scottish superstar has captured his first major, his first Olympic gold medal and, of course, his first Wimbledon. 

However, one obstacle Murray has yet to conquer is the Australian Open, where he has finished as the runner-up three of the past four years. Coming off back surgery, Murray faces an uphill battle to unseat three-time defending champ Novak Djokovic, to whom he lost in 2011 and 2013.

Indeed, Bovada lists Murray as the fourth-favorite on the men's side at 12-1 odds, and even British expectations are a bit repressed:



Despite that, there are reasons to believe Murray can make a run at his first title Down Under.

For one, he has avoided Djokovic's half of the draw. Starting in the round of 16, Murray would face John Isner, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal until the finals. Those are difficult opponents, to be sure, but Murray is undefeated against Isner, has won three of the past four meetings against Federer and has not faced Nadal since 2011.



In three tuneup matches, the results have certainly been uneven. Murray is 1-2, and he lost to Lleyton Hewitt in two tiebreaker sets at Kooyong. However, as Simon Briggs of The Telegraph illustrates, Murray's satisfaction with his fitness after three months off was the most important takeaway:

“My back feels way, way better than it did before the surgery,” said Murray after he came off the court. “It feels much better than it did in Doha. I stiffened up a bit after the first couple of sets there – it was cold – but the last few days in practice my back has felt much better than even it did a couple of weeks ago."

Murray’s support staff confirm that they are no longer having to stack up the hours in extra rehab after each match – a painful and gruelling ritual that everyone had to put up with for...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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