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Post Info TOPIC: Mills thinks that Murray must control his temper to fulfill his talent
JonnyM


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Mills thinks that Murray must control his temper to fulfill his talent
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From the Scotsman:
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=714932006

THE legendary Wimbledon referee Alan Mills has hit out at Andy Murray's on-court behaviour, saying the Scot's fiery temper is the main obstacle to him winning at the All England Club.

Mr Mills, who retired after 23 years as Wimbledon tournament referee last year, told The Scotsman he has "serious concerns" over Murray's recent on-court behaviour.

Experience with top tennis champions such as the placid Pete Sampras and Roger Federer has convinced him that Murray cannot succeed unless he brings his temper under control.

Even the tumultuous John McEnroe, with whom the referee had many encounters at Wimbledon, played his best tennis when his emotions were in check, Mr Mills said.

Last month, Murray received Britain's first fine in the 106-year history of the Davis Cup after swearing at a match official.

That fine followed a code violation issued to Murray at a pro tournament in San Jose in February, after Murray threw his racket four times and appeared to swear at a chair umpire.

Mr Mills said: "Things like that are very foolish. If you can't control yourself that's not going to be very good for you in the future. It's one of two questions in his game.

"The first is his fitness and the second is his ability to keep his emotions under control".

"I always go back to [Bjorn] Borg. He was always known as the Ice Man. But what most people don't know is that at the age of 15 he behaved so badly at a tournament that the Swedish Tennis Association suspended him for six months. Soon after he learned his lesson and went on to be a great champion.

"It would be very difficult for someone to suspend [Murray] in this day and age. [But] if he imagined that it could happen he would have shaped up."

After his Davis Cup fine, Murray justified his behaviour by arguing that footballers swear on the pitch without being reprimanded.

Mr Mills, himself a former Davis Cup player, said: "A certain amount of aggression is good. When I first saw him play, I thought, 'At last, here was a British player who looks as though he wants it. He's hungry. You can tell by the way he plays.

"You are always going to have things that happen on a tennis court that are going to upset you and there are ways of dealing with it without losing control."

Mr Mills, 70, who is in Edinburgh this week refereeing the Scottish Open, also questioned Murray's decision to fire coach Mark Petchy last month.

A spokesman for Murray could not be reached last night, but Jeremy Bates, the former British number one and current Davis Cup captain, said: "[Murray's temper] is part and parcel of what makes him a good player. He is channelling it in the right direction - it's what is going to make him such a champion."

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Madeline


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That fine followed a code violation issued to Murray at a pro tournament in San Jose in February, after Murray threw his racket four times and appeared to swear at a chair umpire.



And that stopped him playing his best? Er - he won that tournament, didn't he, beating Roddick and Hewitt? I don't agree that McEnroe played his best when calm either, he usually played better after a tantrum.

I would prefer there to be no tantrums, but not if the effort of control ruins his game.

I think Mr Mills should stick to organising tournaments.

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RJA


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It seems to me that Andy is one of those rare players who is actually at his best when he is angry. It's when things are going badly and he is not angry that I start to worry. That being said I would hope to see Andy improve his on court behaviour. There is a fine line between getting angry and throwing a childish tantrum and as Andy matures he will hopefully stay on the right side of that line. For now however I would rather see the odd tantrum than meek acceptance of defeat.

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Drew


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Andy must harness the agression that builds up within himself. No problem with him being angry or agressive. I have watched several players throwing matches awayafter becoming embroilled in angry exchanges with umpires etc......Greg for one.


But Andy does let it overflow at times....he needs this to drive him at times....he also needs to cap it at times. He has so much still to learn in this game....not just the strokes...but the mind game also. 



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stagger


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And that stopped him playing his best? Er - he won that tournament, didn't he, beating Roddick and Hewitt? I don't agree that McEnroe played his best when calm either, he usually played better after a tantrum.

I would prefer there to be no tantrums, but not if the effort of control ruins his game.

I think Mr Mills should stick to organising tournaments.


I agree with Madeline. I can't understand why Mills should feel it necessary to say something like that in public and he seems to be remarkabley ill-informed, given his career. There are a few things in the Murray game that need tweaking, but in my opinion his on-court demeanour is not one of them.

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I agree with Madeline,RJA and stagger, I can't see what the point was of Mills slagging Murray off. I don't think that Andy will particularly care what Mills thinks of him.

The fact is that Andy is at his best when he's fired up in a match, that's when
he's always produced his best tennis eg: Queens, Wimbledon, Bangkok, US Open, San Jose etc. It's the same with Lleyton Hewitt.

Mark Petchey made a big mistake last December in trying to harness Murray's temper and getting him to be more placid on court which wasn't natural for Andy. The result was that Andy came out in Adelaide, Auckland and the Aussie Open looking uncomfortable on court, not sure how he was supposed to play and he wasn't really getting into the matches. When he arrived in San Jose without Petchey he became himself again and played like a top 10 player. Ok, he chucked a few rackets and hurled a few verbal obscenities but most players have done that and in the high pressure cauldron of the latter stages of an ATP event it's going to happen.

Personally I like to see a British player getting fired up on court as it shows that they're going to give absolutely everything to try and win even against a higher ranked player. In the past, I've watched some British players at Wimbledon compete against higher ranked opponents and there just seems to be a placid acceptance that they're going to lose which I find infuriating. It's great to see a Brit showing real passion on court.



-- Edited by UltimateSlabbaFan at 08:28, 2006-05-16

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