Sports Betting Articles
Can Andy Murray Live Up To Expectations?
By Philip Oliver
The problem Murray faces is that, like Henman, the expectations placed upon him are unrealistic. Henman unfairly earned the tag of a 'choker' due to his numerous long runs at Wimbledon that never brought an appearance in a final (in fact his four semi final appearances matched his seeding; he was never seeded in the top two and so reaching the last four at least matched the realistic ranking-based expectations placed on him.)
It is early days for Murray. He is 21 years old and has a long future in the upper echelons of the game ahead of him. He is currently ranked 11th in the world and has already reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, the Australian Open and the US Open. Men's tennis is dominated by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, two supremely talented players who rarely fail to reach the last four of the grand slams. It is clearly a tough task for Murray to beat these superstars in the biggest tournaments, but this will not suppress the expectations that he will.
Hopes will be particularly high at Wimbledon. Two good previous performances (Murray reached the third round in 2005 and the fourth a year later) suggest he can succeed in his 'home' grand slam and he will be eager to make an impression on the latter stages after missing out through a wrist injury last year.
Henman received hysterical support at SW19 that reduced his chances of producing a relaxed performance - his most notable grand slam achievement was achieved overseas, when he reached the French Open semi finals in 2004, his least favoured surface - and Scot Murray might not play in quite the same pressurised environment, especially if his petulant and morose on-court behaviour continues.
Murray has a potentially better all-round game than Henman, although he too is least comfortable on clay and will see progess into the second week at the French Open as a success. Another first round defeat to go alongside that suffered in January's Australian Open would see Murray feeling the weight of expectation for the rest of the year's tournaments
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