A couple of tweets from Neil Harmen

Murray says he was fatigued and doesn't know why. 'I lost to the better player, that's all there is to say."

Murray added: "In the third and fourth sets, I was frustrated because I was physically hurting. I haven't felt that way for years."


Looks like Andy is as bemused as the rest of us.

I didn't see the match at all so just have what I read here and the statistics.

Anyway, I did set out in the first post of this thread how I did see Wawrinka as someone certainly not to be taken lightly based on his past ranking and matches vs Andy.  However as I made clear, I did certainly expect Andy to win the match, indeed I thought he would very likely reach the semi and possibly have a tilt at the title.  Alas..

A couple of issues I would raise re possible issues with Andy's physical condition.

When folk were doubting his prospects for the rest of the year back in the spring, after his somewhat lackadaisical period after the Australian Open, I felt his form would come back ( and indeed that it already was showing decent signs by the time of the Madrid Masters ) but I said then my one real concern for the rest of the year was that he effectively admitted that he hadn't been putting in much work or practice in a few months.  For a guy that prides himself on how much work he puts in ( and to such benefit as say his 5 set record shows ) I was concerned that that effective lack of miles in the tank could catch up with him when it mattered later in the year.  I wonder if that is an issue.

Related to that, I just wonder has he possibly overtrained in the week or so leading into the US Open  a) because he is aware that he might possibly be still a bit short  b) this has been raised with Andy before when he has appeared short of energy in a Grand Slam.  The Observer reports that "unfulfilled after his win 7-5  6-4  6-3 win over Brown, Murray took to the practice court with the former Venezuelan Davis Cup player Dani Vallverdu".  He states that he was "fatigued and doesn't know why". Has he not said similar after a Grand Slam defeat before ?  Is just feeling generally fatigued and / or lethargic not a sympton of overtraining ?

To my mind the last thing you want to be doing is expending too much energy immediately before and during a Grand Slam.  You can't really make up then what may be a bit lacking in the tank from earlier months, and indeed it could be counter-productive.It was I thought at the time a surprisingly forthright statement he made on twitter looking forward to hot weather in the US Open that would show who had put in the work.  Was he trying to convince himself as much as anyone that he was at peak fitness ?

Of course Andy has a number of good advisers who one would think would try to keep work at the rigbt level and I could be fairly off-beam. All the above is just my surmising a bit but related to stuff I have thought in the past and bits one or two others have mentioned.

Oh, on a playing front, when he is he going to stop deluding himself that his serve is as consistent a weapon as he sometimes makes out ?  36% 1st serve in % in the third set, 38% in the fourth set doesn't help get the job done     There is an area that is worth ( as it long has been ) putting in some extra work to make that a more secure consistent base for the rest of his game.

-- Edited by indiana on Monday 6th of September 2010 02:09:38 AM

You could write a book about this match, so many things to consider, but first of all Stan put in a best ever performance, clearly galvanised by Lundgren, who probably saw Andy as a huge scalp, and constructed a very impressive gameplan. Stan has never served with as much power and outaced Andy comfortably, something which I would have said was impossible. Stan should have won the first set, as he was dictating all the rallies, outmanouvering Andy, who was doing his level best to get everything back, but was meeting a man in peak form. Stan then froze and Andy nicked the set. Andy then got out to 3-0 in the second set, mainly due to the fact Stan was still recovering from handing the first set to Andy. Then it was Andy's turn to provide a gift wrapped present, losing his concentration, providing Stan with belief that he could win, and so losing the second set. Then instead of moving up a gear in the third set, Andy hit a brick wall physically and mentally. I'm pretty sure the cramps were caused mostly by mental stress ( everyone making him second favourite for the title, putting too much of a heavy burden on him). In contrast at the Aussie open Andy was very relaxed whereas here it was very clear he looked tense especially during his post match pressers. He kept going for the rest of the match but it was clear unless Stan folded he wouldn't win.

I agree with Indy that he maybe trains to hard even during grand slams. Practicing straight after a match seemed to be a bit over the top. Sky are overlooking the practice courts this tournament and so have shown Andy's practice sessions regularly. Practicing straight after the Brown match he was very intense and trying to hit the ball so hard, it even looked like a proper match, not sure it can help with conserving the fuel in his tank.

Desperately needs to find a coach who can guide him to the next level, arguably the most important appointment of his career so far. The new coach needs to give him the belief that he will win a slam sooner rather than later.

-- Edited by philwrig on Monday 6th of September 2010 11:55:33 AM

Yes, interesting to see his post match PC.  While he is never likely to be mistaken for the Laughing Cavalier and it was fairly grim, at least he sat up more and looked at folk  compared to his R2 PC.   As I said after that, I hoped he brought more energy into his next match than the R2 PC.  Hmm, apparently if only.

Yes, it is probably right that there is some confusion in his mind, certainly from some of what has been said re his changing tactics.  But I still have concerns re his comments about how he felt physically and I wonder how much that played a part and was linked to his mindset.  If what he says about how he felt is true then his team really do need to consider his prep coming into the tournament. 

He said after Cincinnati that he had had the perfect build-up to the US Open which I pretty much agreed with given he had had plenty of good match practice in the 2 weeks up to then and had probably got out at just the right time.  He then also said that he would put in plenty work before the US Open and I did slightly worry then.  In some ways I wonder just what he was doing in that week or so.

When he's in the work hard mode ( unlike after the Australian Open ) I get the impression he's like a runner who would get up for an other session in the middle of the night convinced it would give him an advantage since noone else would be doing similarly.

I was interested when he said in one reply that he and his team wouldn't be panicking and there was no need to analyse everything.  I'd say yes, no need to panic but why not analyse everything they do or at least most of it in the immediate aftermath. Just after a Grand Slam, and particularly a loss such as he suffered seems to me a good time to sit back and thoroughly review things. Analyse doesn't mean change but it means being openminded to look at things and if I may say not have a stubborn streak that this way is best and all will come good in time.

Re coaching, I do feel Andy does need a permanent coach, though finding someone to fit for him may be difficult.  It seems it needs to be someone he gets on well with, a good atmosphere in camp and with his coach seems important. But to me it also must be someone that questions some of how he plays at times, and that he will respect if they invite him to try doing some things differently. Left to himself I'm not sure he will question his game enough though interestingly as some remarked he did seem to become a bit more aggressive just after Miles left.