Yeah, I think you're right about Andy being resigned to defeat.

I don't feel the same as I did about last week's defeat to Fognini, because I didn't expect Andy to have a chance here. He lost much as I expected him to. It's just the lack of that Murray fighting spirit we have become used to. The refuse to lose attitude. Surely it would aid his recovery more if he came out and fought for every ball and focused on the match rather than going out, holding back on his shots and going through the motions?

Bitterly disappointed once again though. Not because of the performance, not because he lost, not even because he got hammered, but because of his attitude. It's simply awful right now.

I wonder if there's something simmering beneath the surface. Last week, Andy suggested missing this tournament along with New Haven, whilst Brad was making noises about getting match practise in. Maybe there has been a disagreement about this. Andy certainly didn't look like he wanted to be out there today.

On the way off the court, Sky cameras showed a kid holding a pen and notepad for an autograph. Andy didn't even bother to acknowledge him. I find that disgraceful, it wasn't like there were hundreds of kids, just the one standing there leaning over to try and get Andy's autograph. At the moment, I think he needs to sort out his attitude. It really stinks.

Jack wrote:

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Yes i could not have put it any better myself, The one thing that annoyed me most is the fighting spirit that we saw earlier in the year where he refused to lose matches has quite simply just disappeared as though he was resigned to defeat from the first point, also the serve seemed it was back to square one. that was very upsetting to watch, Thoughts whether or not he will play new haven ?

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Was that comment directed at me? Surely not. That would mean we have agreed twice in one week.

As for New Haven, I think it could possibly be beneficial. He could go in there and get a nice easy draw and pick up a couple of confidence building wins against lower opposition.

Or

He could pick up a horrible draw against a dangerous floater and take another confidence destroying hammering on the chin.

Other thing is, the way he played today I don't think he would have beaten anyone in the top 200. He wasn't just bad, he was awful. Really terrible. He even seems to have regressed quite badly since last week's match against Ginepri. He certainly served better in that match. He's serving like a junior now.

If he goes into New Haven, gets a decent draw and goes out with the right attitude it will be beneficial.

Whether or not this happens is anyone's guess.

I've seen PLENTY of players sign autographs after defeat. They don't necessarily look happy about it but how much does it take to stop for, what 3 seconds????, and sign an autograph?

From what I saw of last week and today - I thought he was hitting the forehands a bit firmer. Actually the forehand didnt look so bad compared to the poor serving, lots of backhand unforced errors, poor returning (by his standards).

Perverse as it must seem - I thought there were signs of hope - I still think it might take a month or two - but it looked to me like he was upping the pace on the forehand - to see how it fared - maybe with a view to being nearer 100% for the US open.

As for the attitude - I think it was his way of implying - "this isnt the real me - I'm still in rehab" - he looked a bit similar playing Djokovich when carrying an injury last year.

murrayfan99 wrote:

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From what I saw of last week and today - I thought he was hitting the forehands a bit firmer. Actually the forehand didnt look so bad compared to the poor serving, lots of backhand unforced errors, poor returning (by his standards).

Perverse as it must seem - I thought there were signs of hope - I still think it might take a month or two - but it looked to me like he was upping the pace on the forehand - to see how it fared - maybe with a view to being nearer 100% for the US open.

As for the attitude - I think it was his way of implying - "this isnt the real me - I'm still in rehab" - he looked a bit similar playing Djokovich when carrying an injury last year.

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He was hitting the forehand a little better, but I don't think there was enough bite on it and because he was concentrating so much on that his other shots basically went to hell.

It was match practice - basically training in a match environment so, if he thinks he can handle these defeats then good it may be good for him in the long run. I just don't know if he looks like he can handle these defeats at the moment. If this is what he thinks is best in the lead up to the USO then fair enough, but I think another few weeks would really see an improvement in the strength of the wrist.

I know it takes weeks, if not months for players to get their confidence back after that sort of injury, but not many players have the sort of pressure, or are over-analysed the way Andy is and these results are just heaping more pressure on him.

Andy's thoughts from the BBC match report -

And Murray conceded: "There's just a lot of things that I wasn't really doing well - not moving fluidly, which is normally the one thing that I do really well.

"I moved badly, so obviously wasn't hitting my forehand 100%. A combination of those two things and also playing against a great player like Marcos doesn't help."

However, Murray insisted his wrist was holding up well, saying: "I decided after my matches last week and then a few days before the tournament here that I was going to try to hit some more (forehands) and, I hoped, be pain free - and I haven't had any bad reactions.

"It was feeling better, and I guess it's pretty much 100% now. It's a good sign."

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It sounds like he's taking these matches the right way - as training and fitness exercises which eases my worry about the long term damage it could do to his confidence.

If you can't even hit a topspin forehand right, there is no point in playing profesional tennis.