I'm in disbelief at that. I can't believe that Andy would have lost like that... unbelievable. Wow.

Gutted. Absolutely gutted. I was afraid he would lose to Delpo in the next round, but I never dreamed he would lose to Cilic.

He is going to have to work out how to deal with the big hitters.

The first match of his I have been able to watch, and the livestreams were rubbish, and so was Andy I'm afraid.

Really gutted. Agree with Seagull's point about a pattern emerging with Andy being hit off court in GSs - you can add Gonzalez to that list at this year's French.

Can either go two ways for me now. One, either this is as good as it's going to get for Andy and he has hit a brick wall and he will consistently go out of tournies (esp GSs) to guys who out hit him OR this is a defining moment in his career (given this is the US Open, his favourite slam, it will hurt) when he decides that he needs to trust in his ability and be more agressive against these guys.

I seriously hope it's the latter. I think Andy's game is more complex than some of the other top guys with his greater variety and depth. I think he has said that it will take him longer to work out how to maximise his game. Maybe he also thinks with his new levels of fitness he can just outlast players and take as long as it takes to break them down?

He has hit the buffers before and come back stronger. It's going to be interesting to see if he can do it again. You can be sure that other players are going to see this as a chink in his armour and seek to attack it.

I think Andy can step up and start being more agressive in dictating points when needed. Maybe it's a mental block at the moment but this defeat may just force him to do it. It's not necessarily changing his game but adding this element to it and knowing when he needs to do it.

EDIT - according to Mark Petchy Murray has capsulitis - a problem with the wrist. He also complained about having a lack of energy in his press conference - a hangover from the virus he suffered earlier this year? He would not be the first player to suffer from long-term effects of a virus
-- Edited by MD on Tuesday 8th of September 2009 09:32:49 PM

-- Edited by MD on Tuesday 8th of September 2009 09:47:45 PM

A big disappointment but you could definitely see something wasn't quite right whether it was the wrist or lack of energy due to some underlying illness we might never know. There is one positive from this he now has more time to rest up for the DC tie.

One more thing we all know Andy learns alot from defeat and I believe that he'll come back even stronger after this.

-- Edited by airsmashers on Wednesday 9th of September 2009 01:23:26 AM

Hmm, i can see him pulling out of DC as well. Last night was a shocker but i'm sure he will bounce back. The usual Murray bashers on other sites will put the boot in as usual but in all he is still having a fantastic year and continues to work hard on his game. I'm sure he'll figure it all out somehow. For me if Murray never wins a GS I'll still view him as a champion as you don't get to his current position without hardwork, dedication and talent. Still think he'll win one somewhere and that may be the breakthrough to a few more after that like he is now doing in the masters.

Chin up Andy, keep going lad.

Cilic Bang and the Scot is Gone!

same as FD i didn't see the match just clips on SSN as it was ongoing, but it seems that Marin was really going for his shots, hitting some deadly forehands, but i agree there is a consensus growing that Andy is becoming vulnerable to a good player (and lets not underestimate how good some of these guys are here, the difference in a match can be small its more to do with tournament/year long consistency) finding his peak and Andy allowing it to happen, you feel that with Fed & Rafa the difference is that they find a way to stop an opponent playing his best by various means, i don't know how I'm not the expert, but it means even if they are not at their best they can still find a way through.

Still its not like this will be the last ever slam for Andy, he does seem to learn from his mistakes so i am sure he'll come back better. lets hope this wrist injury isn't too serious. if there is a genuine issue then rest is important, even if the cynic in me notes its revelation just prior to a DC engagement.

Fleming last night on Sky made a quite remarkable spot on comment. He said that Murray is a very consistent player who is very successful at all the other tournaments when Murrays' style of play makes it ideal for him to win those matches i.e partly waiting for his opponent to miss. But in a grand slam when all the players raise their game you have to go out and WIN matches as opposed to waiting for your opponent to miss that means hitting more winners. There was a classic example of this when Isner beat Roddick when Roddick believed that Isner would eventually start making unforced errors but he didn't and a shock defeat resulted.

If you look at all the players who have surpassed expectations at grand slams in recent times they are all attacking players:
Soderling
Gonzalez
Verdasco
Tsonga