Andy's column - grass season 2013

[Sallydaisy]

I was struggling to get up and down stairs and to walk around. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/22898630)

Andy's column on the BBC website - good reading!!!
Here's a few extracts:-

I knew in the back of my mind after playing in Madrid - and the couple of days before Rome - that something wasn't quite right with my back. Then for a few days after Rome I was struggling to get up and down stairs and to walk around. That's when I realised I probably wasn't going to be able to do a whole lot for a week or 10 days.

I've got a lot of good people around me helping me out and within a few days I was feeling a lot better. I was able to start training after nine or 10 days and built it up slowly to a level where I was able to compete.

In the absence of Sherlock, most of my viewing time was spent keeping up with what was happening at Roland Garros.

I can watch matches just to enjoy them, but sometimes I'll take notes on players and things I might see in their games that I could do against them, or how guys are hurting them.
As for the commentary, I'll obviously see things differently sometimes and agree with some more than others. Everyone has their opinions when it comes to sport and there's nothing wrong with that. I have mine as well, but I will stick it on mute if I want to really study a match!


:whistle:

[cazza99]

The second blog by Andy.

BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/22929787) - Andy Murray column: Wimbledon now the focus after Queen's win


If I'm playing well enough to hit Ivan Lendl with a forehand for the first time ever, I reckon I'm in pretty good shape for Wimbledon.
.....

I hit it so cleanly - it was the best shot I played all week - and I already know that Ivan will try to get me back when we practise together this week.

Believe me, he won't have any concerns about injuring me the week before Wimbledon. As he always says: "It's just a tennis ball, it's not a hockey puck."
.....


I'll have a day off and then just concentrate on making sure I hit enough balls, work on a few things and play an exhibition later in the week.

This is the one month of the year where I allow myself to not do any of the domestic stuff - playing at Wimbledon is a good excuse! I'll spend loads of time with the physio doing my rehab and work on the court, but it's all about trying to relax, recover and stay fresh now.

Towards the end of the week I'll start to get excited about Wimbledon, but it's quite a busy five or six days in the build-up to the tournament, so you need to make sure you don't get too pumped, too soon.

There's a lot of stuff you have to do, so you don't want to waste any energy, but towards the end of the week when the draw's done, you start to get your head around it and get yourself psyched up.

[cazza99]

The next blog by Andy

BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23035934) - Andy Murray column: Don't write Rafael Nadal off


This might be my eighth Wimbledon but I still feel the nerves, the pressure and the excitement to get out there on the court.

For the last few days before the tournament you're not really hitting many balls, but you're around Wimbledon doing the media work and practising a little bit.

You just want to get out there and play, so it was great to finally step onto Centre Court.

Sometimes the grass can be a bit slippery under foot on the opening day, but it was playing beautifully and I made a good start against Benjamin Becker.
........

And, for the record, my coach Ivan Lendl hasn't tried to repay me for hitting him with a forehand during the charity match at Queen's Club last week. We hit some balls one day, but he didn't try anything. I'm on my guard though, don't worry.
....

I'm always nervous the night before a big tournament and this time there was also a bit of build-up to the BBC documentary that went out on Sunday. I took a fair bit of persuading to get involved with it, but I know there's been quite a bit of positive reaction and I appreciate it a lot.

I haven't actually seen it myself yet, apart from the last five minutes, as I was told it probably wouldn't be a good idea for me so close to the biggest couple of weeks of the year.

We recorded it and I'll definitely have a look at some stage, but I watched Mock The Week instead. The perfect preparation!
.....

My next match is a perfect example of how difficult the early matches can be, as I lost to Yen-Hsun Lu in the first round of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

I was so excited to play in the Olympics and be part of it that I was doing a lot of media, I was going to the opening ceremony, I was trying to speak to all of the athletes and take pictures with them, I was collecting the pins from each team - I was loving being part of it.

But when I lost, I thought, 'Why was I doing all that stuff? I'm here to win matches, I'm not here to collect pins.' I loved going to the opening ceremony but had to think 'is that the best thing for my preparation'?

[cazza99]

BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23067434) - Andy Murray on Wimbledon & Serena Williams Vegas match-up


This Wimbledon has provided the perfect reminder that one bad performance and I'm out of the tournament.

I'm happy to say that for the second round running, my match was not the story of the day and the big news was being made elsewhere.

After Rafael Nadal lost on Monday, Sergiy Stakhovsky beat Roger Federer to show once again that you can run into someone playing the match of their life and, if you're not quite on it, you can lose. I played Stakhovsky in the final of the US Open juniors and he's a very talented guy with great hands and good feel.
.........

I don't know the ins and outs of everyone's injuries, but I do think players are quicker these days and grass is a tough surface to stop on. The way the guys throw their bodies around the court now, they seem to slip down more than they used to.

You can't move like that on a grass court; you need to be very particular with your foot placement and that's the thing that takes time to get used to coming from the clay. There you can be throwing your right leg into sliding for a ball; here you have to take small steps to slow yourself down or you'll fall.
..........

I'll prepare by practising with Kyle Edmund, the British junior, as I hit with him a couple of days before the tournament and he's a good guy. Then I'll do all my physio and my fitness work and, if I can get through on Friday, I know I've then got two days off to recuperate.

That might give me a chance to take the dogs for a walk, as I don't see them during the day and by the time I get home they're pretty tired. I think their TV appearance last weekend must have exhausted them, although they haven't turned into complete divas yet.

[RoastLamb]

:lol: about the dogs!

[traveller7]

BBC sport column

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23115753

[cazza99]

BBC sport column

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23115753

:thanks: traveller7.


I got a reminder of just what an incredible place Centre Court was last summer when I was invited into the Royal Box for the first time on Saturday, along with Britain's other gold medallists from London 2012.

To get all those athletes in one place at the same time outside of a major competition was a pretty good effort, and it was nice to see people like Sir Chris Hoy and Anthony Joshua again.

It did mean I had to rush from practising at Aorangi Park to Centre Court, grab a shower and put on a suit, and there were a few nervous moments when I cut myself shaving. A bit of tissue paper did the trick though - I think I got away with it!

The reception I got was pretty special and the level of support here is just incredible.
......

I'm sure Monday will be another big day for the British fans, especially as Laura Robson has also made it through to the second week for the first time here. It's great for her and, if it takes a bit of the spotlight off me, I think that would definitely help.
......

Mikhail Youzhny is a good grass-court player with lots of experience, and he reached the final in Halle a couple of weeks ago, so all my focus needs to be on how to beat him on Monday.

If those of you camping and queuing still have the energy to make plenty of noise by the time the match comes around, that will certainly help. Hopefully I can do my bit on the court.

[RoastLamb]

Forgot Youzhny reached the Halle final. :eek:

[cazza99]

Forgot Youzhny reached the Halle final. :eek:

Youzhny has often done well at Wimbledon too.

[traveller7]

Yes I changed my mind about FTM and predict a 4 setter he could be a tricky customer if andys serve is off.

[traveller7]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23140027

Andy answers your questions.

[cazza99]

Andy's next instalment

BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23174104)- Andy Murray column: 'I won’t be intimidated by 6ft 8in Janowicz’


It might take a little longer than normal for my head to clear after that dramatic quarter-final, but the prospect of a Wimbledon semi-final will get me focused again.

Sleep can be hard to come by when you've just won in five sets on Centre Court and that's where the day off at Grand Slams is a big help.

It was close to 11pm when I got home and it might have been hard to recover for a match the next day, but here I'm lucky to have 24 hours to get myself back to neutral, do all the right recovery stuff and hit a few balls to freshen up a bit. I'll be fine for Friday.
.......

Dealing with nerves is a part of the job at this stage of a Slam and you can't dictate when they will hit you.

Sometimes you'll start thinking about the next match a day before and you may get a bit nervous; sometimes you won't worry about it until an hour or so before you step on the court. I don't mind if I'm a little bit nervous the day before, because that means I know I'm going to be pumped the next day.
.........

There's a lot more to his game than people might think - he's got good touch and plays a lot of drop shots - but at 6ft 8in and with a big serve, it's pretty obvious that I will need to return well.

That's always been one of the strengths of my game. I can remember beating Taylor Dent, who was one of the biggest servers around, when I played on the Tour for the first time at Queen's Club.

I have very short, compact swings on the return and quite a long reach, and they're two key things when you're returning.

If you have big swings, especially on the quicker courts, it's tough to get the timing right. If you're able to keep the swings short then it helps. I also practise blocking returns and just getting them back in play a lot, because in some matches that's really your only option.
..........

If anything, it's more likely that a player's endurance ability is something I'd find it hard to compete against. If you know someone can outlast you, it puts a lot more pressure on the beginning of the match. If someone just has a big shot then you can try to find ways to take that away from them. On the physical side, you can't stop someone from being fit.

[xenon21]

BBC column (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23201371): Beating Djokovic an incredible challenge!

[cazza99]

BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23229819)- Andy Murray column: I can't wait to walk out as Wimbledon champion

[harriet]

jonathan overend (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23242177) is this the right thread? it's a good read I think

[cazza99]

jonathan overend (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23242177) is this the right thread? it's a good read I think

This thread is just for Andy's column written by Andy. I have posted this and other BBC articles on the newspaper thread.