Wimbledon 2010: Andy Murray’s Opportunity

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 27, 2010

commentComment        

Andy Murray has everything a counterpuncher needs: speed, consistency, feel, and intelligence.

Plus, standing 6’3”, Wimbledon’s fourth seed has a couple of things that even the game’s best counterpunchers—from Bjorn Borg to Mats Wilander to Lleyton Hewitt—didn’t have. Those guys had to serve clutch and take care of their volleys when they came to net, but it was asking a lot of any of them to reach 130 mph regularly while serving. What’s more, being 190 centimeters in height, Murray enjoys more reach at net than they ever had.

Gilles Simon, Murray’s third round opponent, knows a thing or two about the strengths and drawbacks of the counterpuncher’s game. It’s the style of play that took him as high as No. 6 in the world at the start of 2009 and has netted him six career titles. Lacking the enormous serving or huge forehand required to bully opponents, though, his results have been erratic of late and he entered Wimbledon seeded at No. 26.

He counterpunched his way to a third-round meeting with the big Scot, but standing 5’11”, soon found that Murray could do everything he could, and then some.

Murray hit 15 aces to Simon’s two, and won 83 percent of first serve points to the Frenchman’s 65. The Scot’s height also gave him a trajectory advantage, enabling him to put 65 percent of his first serves in play to Simon’s 54. Murray’s average first serve speed was 120 mph, five faster than Simon’s and 11 more than Hewitt managed in his third round win over Gael Monfils.

In matchup of two rock-solid groundstrokers, Murray’s serving (and volleying) advantages took the pressure off his backcourt game, allowing him to sweep to a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Of all of Wimbledon’s top five seeds—the others being Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick—Murray is the only o...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

Latest News


Comments

Comments are closed.

Sponsors

Bruins Tickets The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Red Wings Tickets The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

Penguins Tickets The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New York Rangers Tickets play their home games at Madison Square Garden, they are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

San Jose Sharks Tickets The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States.

Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New Jersey Devils Tickets The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Washington Capitals Tickets The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo Sabres Tickets The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. Get the Sabres and all of your NHL Tickets here.

NASCAR season is on of the most attended sports in the world. NASCAR Tickets to the best tracks is a must every year. Some of these tracks are: Talladega Tickets, Lowes Motor Speedway Tickets, Pocono Raceway Tickets, located in Ridgeway Virginia you have Martinsville Speedway Tickets and southern US you have two of the most popular Atlanta Motor Speedway Tickets and Texas Motor Speedway Tickets. Don't miss all the racing events this year!

Boston Red Sox Tickets The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. This is one of the hottest MLB Tickets sales of any team in the major league.

New York Yankees Tickets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division. Get tickets to one of the hottest games of the season Yankees Red Sox Tickets.

Chicago Cubs Tickets The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

Phillies Tickets The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.

Orioles Tickets The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Do you love wrestling? Get your WWE Tickets and WWE Survivor Series Tickets today!