Coming into Indian Wells next week, there will be some new faces, who can shock the world. They hope. Traditionally, the top players are always there, and usually they can go very deep, into the quarters, the semis or in the final.
Over the years, in the desert, that Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic grabbed it, winning so many Grand Slam titles. They also did that in California at Indian Wells, but not only those. In 2009, Andy Murray reached the final, and he lost against Djokovic, pretty easily, but he looked tired, as he played some long matches on the hardcourt. He was a little bit slow, plus the No. 1 Serbian was playing nearly perfect.
The Scotland man also became No. 1 in 2016, and he won three Grand Slams, but however, he almost retired due to his hip surgery, twice. He finally came back, slowly, in 2020, and he looks decent, but he is not the same quality when he is playing day after day. However, early on, he looks terrific, with his hard hitting strokes. But he is realistic. He just wants to play,and he is pushing himself.
“I have goals, and I still believe I can play much better. Since I came back from the hip surgery, I’ve won against Zverev, Berrettini, Norrie, Hurkacz, Alcaraz. There’s a number of guys that are currently in like the top 25, top 30 in the world. I think I’ve beaten 12 or 13 of them since I came back. The consistency certainly has not been there. I’m totally aware of that. But there has been times where I played well. The last sort of seven, eight months has been tough. Having some consistency and continuity there I think will help me get a bit of consistency back. The inconsistency for me has been more frustrating because I’m not sure exactly why it’s been so up and down. I need to try and change that.”
Murray is a true grinder, and really likes to get into the rallies. His forehand and his backhand can hit it each way, and he can hustle. His first serve is strong, but his second serve is mediocre, not because he won a lot of events, but because the top players can jump on it. Not all the time, but here and there.
He is decent at the net, but he does not go there very often. That is why the 21 Grand Slam champ Nadal has improved at the net a tremendous amount. The same goes with Federer and Djokovic, the two 20 Slam victories, who improved there serves, there strokes, and at the net.
The 34-year-old Murray can try if he wants to, but it is up to him. Without a doubt, he just wants to walk into the court and make an attempt.
Since he returned, he is currently ranked No. 86. The last time he won a tournament was in 2019 in Antwerp, Belgium. Can he do it again, somewhere?
“I feel like physically I’m doing well in the matches in terms of I played some tough matches recently and came through them well physically, and that’s really positive. I’m 8-5 on the year, which is not amazing, but there’s a lot of guys on the tour that are significantly worse than that,” Murray said. “So I’m trying to sort of not get too disappointed by maybe not performing as well as I would like, sort of accepting or trying to accept the situation that I’m in just now. I want to be doing better. But obviously I have an opportunity to achieve a goal of mine. I’ve been wanting to get to 700 match wins [currently he is 699 wins], which I think when it happens will be a great achievement.”