17/08/2010 13:11 CEST - atp tour
Was Toronto Irrelevant?
What happened in Toronto over the weekend may be irrelevant for the most part. The primary things the Masters event demonstrated was that the world's "Big Four" players are still far superior to the rest of the men's game, and that Novak Djokovic can still play this game as well as anyone. James Beck
What about Andy Murray, you say? Wasn't he awesome in conquering both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in straight sets?
Yes, but Murray still has to prove himself on the big stage. Masters events are one thing; Grand Slams are another.
Sure, Murray has been in a couple of Grand Slam finals, but he flopped both times. Against Federer, of course, in straight sets.
The Grand Slams are a whole new game. Five sets just make it tougher for a player such as Murray to break through.
NEW YORK IS ALL THAT MATTERS
One bad game-costing call such as Nadal received against Murray Saturday can be enough to turn any match, especially a best of three-setter. A loss of a service break that turned what would have been a 4-3 lead into a 3-4 deficit because a Murray double fault wasn't called may have been enough to make Nadal lose what little intensity he had.
Sure, Nadal played hard all the way. He always does by normal human standards. But this match was meaningless in the overall scheme of things for the world's No. 1 player. Even as cocky and out-to-prove-a-point as Murray is, surely he isn't daydreaming about beating both Nadal and Federer.
To Nadal and Federer, the only thing that matters right now is New York. And if that's the case for those two, it should be doubly so for Murray. If the Scotsman fails to come through this time, he can be written off like a stock market loss. But if he happens to convert against, say Nadal and Federer, or even Djokovic, that would be a different matter. All of a sudden, Murray would be a household word all over the world of tennis, especially in England, the United States and all of Europe.
IS DJOKOVIC BACK?
Djokovic can never be overlooked, even as erratic as he can be. After all, he was No. 2 in the world before his loss to Federer in Toronto.
Djokovic's lone breakthrough came at the 2008 Australian Open. But he's fully capable of others. Perhaps, he should have beaten Federer in the 2007 U.S. Open final, but instead lost in a close straight-setter.
Djokovic seems to mope around at times on the court, and he always seems to have physical ailments, especially breathing, at critical times in matches. His loss to Federer in the Toronto semifinals was no different when the match was on the line in the third set. He didn't appear to have the physical conditioning to pull off the stunt, missing badly on go-for-broke shots when he had Federer on the ropes.
But, at least, the 23-year-old Serbian demonstrated his great shot-making ability and made things interesting. That was at night, of course. The question is whether Djokovic can go five sets in the New York heat against another member of the Big Four.
--
James Beck is the long-time tennis columnist for the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier newspaper and winner of the USTA's national media excellence award. He can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com
--
See James Beck's Post and Courier columns at:
http://web.charleston.net/news/columnists/james_beck/
James Beck
"The majority of the matches I win aren't pretty. But I've made a career out of that."
Andy Roddick on his 1st round victory over finnish Nieminen.
June the 28th, 1977
Eighteen-year-old John McEnroe becomes the first qualifier to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon when he defeats the Australian Phil Dent in the quartefinals. .
From "On this day in Tennis History" by Randy Walker
