Wednesday September 12, 2012
Great Scot could not bear losing another Grand Slam
ANDY Murray admitted that even with a confidence-boosting Olympic gold medal, he was nagged by doubts ahead of his US Open final triumph after having lost four prior Grand Slam finals.
“The Olympics was huge for me. It was the biggest week of my life,” Murray said after paying tribute to coach Ivan Lendl immediately after the epic final.
“But still, when I was sitting in the locker room beforehand, there were still doubts.
“You are still thinking, ‘If I lose this one, no one has ever lost their first five finals.’ I just didn’t really want to be that person.”
Murray is not that person. And as a result, a 76-year Grand Slam title drought for British men since Fred Perry’s 1936 US championships was forever consigned to the scrap heap of tennis history.
Murray defeated World No. 2 and defending champion Novak Djokovic 7-6 (12-10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 in blustery conditions at Arthur Ashe Stadium to claim his first Grand Slam title.
Djokovic had a five-setters win streak of eight in a row snapped by Murray, who had not gone such a distance since losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals earlier this year.
“It was obviously a very tough match,” Murray said. “When the conditions have been like they have been, you need to focus so hard on almost every shot because the ball is very hard to control.
But while Djokovic wanted it, Murray needed it, especially after going two-sets ahead.
“It was the thing just to try to keep going for my shots and giving 110 percent, not leave anything out there on the court, because you know how hard Grand Slams are to come by and how hard you need to work to give yourself a chance to win them.
“You don’t want to step off the court not doing yourself justice. I felt maybe couple years ago in Australia a couple of years ago when I played Novak in the final there I didn’t necessarily do that and that hurt me a lot.
“If I had lost tonight it would hurt a lot, but I would have known I would have tried my best and given it 110 percent.” — AFP
And now, Murray will have even more confidence to face the future. I hope it doesn’t change me as a person. That would be a bad thing.” Murray said. — AFP
“I think on the court, hopefully, if I get into situations like this in the future I won’t be having all the doubts that I was having before the match.
“I’ll maybe just be a little more confident than I was before this tournament.” — AFP
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