http://sport.guardian.co.uk/tennis/story/0,,1859838,00.html


Steve Bierley in New York
Monday August 28, 2006
The Guardian


Just a couple of years ago Judy Murray went around the shops at Flushing Meadows buying up "Go Andy" badges to take home. They were, of course, specifically manufactured for Andy Roddick, but as she said at the time: "Nobody will ever know." In 2004 Roger Federer won his first US Open title, beating Tim Henman in the semi-finals, and Murray won the junior title. He was a world apart from both of them.

Now the world has significantly shrunk. Murray holds a 3-0 career match advantage over Henman, whom he has relegated to the British No2 spot, while a couple of weeks ago he defeated Federer for the first time. The world No1 was in less than perfect fettle as, having just won the Toronto ATP Masters title, he was a little jaded - but so few players beat the Swiss under any circumstances that it was still a startling win for Murray, which helped lift him into the world top 20.

It takes some getting used to. The 19-year-old Scot is already three to four years ahead of the progress Henman made and, unless injury intervenes, Britain finally has a male player capable of winning one of the world's four major titles. This is neither to say he will nor that he may win more than one, but he has given a clear indication that he has the talent and technique, while in Brad Gilbert he has a coach who resurrected Andre Agassi's career and also led Roddick, a player of strictly limited ability, to the US Open title and the world No1 spot.

Gilbert is clearly relishing every moment with "The Kid", the more so because their relationship is not complicated by Murray having to sign the pay cheques. That has been looked after by the LTA, which under the leadership of Roger Draper, its new chief executive, took the bold decision to employ Gilbert and effectively loan him out to Murray. The parameters of the American's other work with the LTA are not as yet perfectly clear, but for the moment everything appears hunky-dory.

Since Gilbert came on board in Washington last month, Murray has won 11 of his 14 matches, including a semi-final and quarter-final in two Masters series events, the tier below the slam. "I talk fast, I walk fast, I eat fast and I do everything pretty quick. And Andy does everything pretty slow, except on court where fundamentally we agree on how he is going to play," Gilbert said. "I have to look through his vision and help him to become the best player he can. You shouldn't compare Andy to anybody else because it's not fair to him. That's the quickest way to create tension."

Gilbert, who first caught a glimpse of Murray when he won the junior title, became more aware of his ability at Wimbledon last year. "My impression was that he walked really slowly but moved really quickly. The first thing that struck me was, how is this guy doing all of this? The answer is that he reads the play really well, has great eyes, and changes his pace and angles, and he plays with great intelligence.

"What has surprised me is his ability to play at the net. He has great hands, good instinct and great technique. Maybe in a few years, when his game is more complete, we will see him there a bit more."

It is a fascinating thought. Federer has approached the net much less often over the last couple of years, confident in his ability to outmanoeuvre most of his rivals from the baseline. But even the world No1 may feel the need to attack more often to stem the challenge of Spain's Rafael Nadal and, perhaps, Murray. The last two slam finals have been between Federer and Nadal - and the Spaniard, twice the French Open champion, is determined to make a mark here for the first time.

The current overwhelming advantage that both men have over Murray is their physical prowess. "Mentally Andy is unbelievably strong and now we need to work on the physical side. It's going to take 18 months. We'll have to look at his diet and he's going to have to put in the hard yards. Andy knows that," said Gilbert.

"He has no body fat at all but we're going to get him stronger and bigger. He's going to be running the hills hard and he's going to learn to lift some weights. It's going to be a lifestyle change."

And so it has to be. A year ago, having played two five-set matches here, Murray chose to berate some for suggesting he was not fit enough. A few weeks with Gilbert has seen him shed such denials.

Murray opens up against American qualifier Robert Kendrick, whom he beat 6-0, 6-0 earlier this year, while Henman and Greg Rusedski meet for the 10th time in the battle of the old guard, with the winner down to then face Federer. "It's never easy playing someone from your own country. At the moment it's like being one of the Spaniards, who are having to play each other every week," said Henman, who has lost to Murray in his last two tournaments.

In a rare display of riches Britain has a fourth player in the main draw with the 20-year-old Joshua Goodall having qualified. Ranked No262 in the world, Goodall has twice played at Wimbledon without winning a set, and in the first round here plays the Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, ranked just outside the top 50. None of the four Britons plays today.