By Erik Gudris

Photo Credit: Mark Peterson / Corleve

 

 

(January 25, 2012) Many tennis pundits over the years picked Melbourne as being the place Andy Murray would finally capture his elusive first Major title. With its easygoing vibe, a medium to slow hard-court surface that suits his defensive game and being far, far away from the always intrusive eye of the U.K. media, at least for those who didn’t take the red-eye over, Australia, still a part of the British Commonwealth, just felt like the perfect place for Murray to make his start towards Grand Slam glory.

 

But it hasn’t quite worked out that way. Murray’s recent history down under has been a mix of pleasure and pain. Pleasure in that he reached the finals twice there and often plays some of his best tennis at the start of the year. Painful because he’s lost both of those finals, in 2010 to Roger Federer in rather unconvincing fashion and in 2011 to Novak Djokovic in an effort that some described as borderline deranged due to Murray’s odd behavior at the end of the match. Now Murray is back but this time being coached by the eight-time Major champion Ivan Lendl who many believe is the best man to not only fix Murray’s iffy forehand but possibly unwind whatever knots are wrapped around the Scot’s cerebellum that causes him to underperform in Grand Slam finals.

 

Murray was expected to cruise through his opening rounds more or less, so any analysis on if Lendl was actually helping Murray felt pointless. He’s only dropped one set to Ryan Harrison, who let’s face it, started that first round match more amped up than a college freshman who’s downed a gallon of Red Bull to pull an all-nighter. After seeing off Harrison, Murray only dropped a handful of games in the rest of his matches, but now the partnership faces its first real test which feels almost like a final exam, or a semifinal exam in this case, when Murray takes on Djokovic in a repeat of last year’s final. Djokovic, despite perhaps dealing with a mild hamstring issue, will again be a favorite in this one though all eyes will be on Murray to see what exactly he pulls out of the Lendl playbook to challenge the Serb.

 

If Murray passes by Djokovic but then loses in the final to Federer or Rafael Nadal, will it be received by the fans and the media as progress or disappointment? And what if Murray somehow wins the whole thing? Will he get the gold star and an “A++” for his effort? Or will Lendl get all the credit as being the wise sage the grumpy and stubborn Murray needed to finally push him over the Grand Slam hurdle? We’ll know in a few days what final grade Murray and Lendl will get for their efforts these two weeks. But no matter what, expect Murray to be back again next year in Melbourne hoping to pass each of the seven tests needed to be crowned Australia’s champion.