Becker: Murray needs help to take the final step
Source: Agencies |
February 2, 2010, Tuesday
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ANDY Murray needs to tap into the knowledge of some of the "icons of the game" if he is to move from grand slam contender to champion, according to six-time major winner Boris Becker.
Murray was in tears after Sunday's 3-6, 4-6, 6-7 loss to Roger Federer in the Australian Open final, his second grand slam final defeat after he was swept aside by Federer in the 2008 US Open.
Sunday's loss was closer, but not much, as only in the third set did the Briton begin to show the aggression and risk-taking necessary to disturb Federer's cruise to his 16th grand slam.
Becker said that Murray had played the best major tournament of his career in Melbourne but that it had also revealed that he needs to work on his aggression.
"How assertive he was in the final was always going to be crucial. At the very start of the match he went head to head with Roger, but he then reverted to his usual defensive game, and allowed Roger to play such great tennis," Becker wrote in Britain's Daily Telegraph.
"Even when he had set points, in the third set, he could not take the big step. He tried to attack, but a mid-court forehand let him down. It is not a shot he would usually select, and on the big points, tennis players revert to instinct.
"It was a revealing moment, and one which showed that Andy now needs to improve technically, to ingrain the killer shot so deep inside him that it becomes instinctive to play it at the right moment, like Roger. That is the next stage in his progression.
"I was looking at Andy's box during the match and there was no one up there who knows what it is like to be out in a grand slam final. Don't get me wrong, "Team Murray" are first rate - they have made Andy the third best player on the planet - but you cannot learn the skills you need out on the center court from a book, or from hearsay.
"You need to talk to people like John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, someone Andy would listen to and respect. For Murray, it is now about playing the right shot at the right time, not running or going to the gym."
Becker, who won Wimbledon three times, the Australian Open twice and the US Open once, ruled himself out of the job but said Murray needed someone who has achieved the ultimate in the game to be alongside him in the slams to "talk about the five or so make-or-break shots in a match, and how best to play them."
"Andy will be among the top men's players over the next five years, but if he wants to be above them, not amid them, he needs to have someone in his corner who knows what it is like to win a grand slam, to climb the Mount Everest of tennis," Becker said.
Murray was in tears after Sunday's 3-6, 4-6, 6-7 loss to Roger Federer in the Australian Open final, his second grand slam final defeat after he was swept aside by Federer in the 2008 US Open.
Sunday's loss was closer, but not much, as only in the third set did the Briton begin to show the aggression and risk-taking necessary to disturb Federer's cruise to his 16th grand slam.
Becker said that Murray had played the best major tournament of his career in Melbourne but that it had also revealed that he needs to work on his aggression.
"How assertive he was in the final was always going to be crucial. At the very start of the match he went head to head with Roger, but he then reverted to his usual defensive game, and allowed Roger to play such great tennis," Becker wrote in Britain's Daily Telegraph.
"Even when he had set points, in the third set, he could not take the big step. He tried to attack, but a mid-court forehand let him down. It is not a shot he would usually select, and on the big points, tennis players revert to instinct.
"It was a revealing moment, and one which showed that Andy now needs to improve technically, to ingrain the killer shot so deep inside him that it becomes instinctive to play it at the right moment, like Roger. That is the next stage in his progression.
"I was looking at Andy's box during the match and there was no one up there who knows what it is like to be out in a grand slam final. Don't get me wrong, "Team Murray" are first rate - they have made Andy the third best player on the planet - but you cannot learn the skills you need out on the center court from a book, or from hearsay.
"You need to talk to people like John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, someone Andy would listen to and respect. For Murray, it is now about playing the right shot at the right time, not running or going to the gym."
Becker, who won Wimbledon three times, the Australian Open twice and the US Open once, ruled himself out of the job but said Murray needed someone who has achieved the ultimate in the game to be alongside him in the slams to "talk about the five or so make-or-break shots in a match, and how best to play them."
"Andy will be among the top men's players over the next five years, but if he wants to be above them, not amid them, he needs to have someone in his corner who knows what it is like to win a grand slam, to climb the Mount Everest of tennis," Becker said.
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