Andy Murray Latest and General Tennis Chat

[TheScarf]

I don't know why the BBC don't include the points totals as well.

Remember, this is the BBC we are talking about, if it's not Wimbledon, they don't give a monkeys.

[theentomologist]

Aye. The last three months he's gained 2.5k on Federer and 3.5k on Djokovic.

Federer also drops 2800 in the next few weeks (seven or thereabouts). Djokovic drops 2660. Murray drops 370 during that period. With 'only' 1010 points in it, Federer may need to win at Roland Garros and Djokovic in Rome again to stave off Murray's challenge for 2nd place.

Monte Carlo notwithstanding, Murray is shit on clay though and, god forbid, could easily bow out tomorrow.

6-1 first set Murray v Monaco -he might still be shit though, as I've no idea how good this opponent actually is.

edit: no you were right shit -1-6 6-3 7-5 loss

Edited April 29, 2009 by theentomologist

[StewartyMac]

To be fair, Monaco is a really good player on clay. I kinda thought this result would happen.

Murray should still be up to No.3 unless Djokovic wins it again though (I think)

[pollymac]

To be fair, Monaco is a really good player on clay. I kinda thought this result would happen.

Murray should still be up to No.3 unless Djokovic wins it again though (I think)

Murray retains his 70 points from last year and anything less than a win for Djokovic will see him drop to at least 190 points below Murray.

edit: Just noticed they've changed the points this year and Murray only gets 45 and the runner-up 600 as opposed to 70 and 700 respectively.

Edited April 29, 2009 by pollymac

[minijc]

Andy Murray will become the first British man to reach number three in the world rankings on 11 May. The 21-year-old Scot will overtake Novak Djokovic in the ATP World Tour standings after the Serb failed to defend his title at the Rome Masters.

YAY

[RedWeb]

YAY

Bizarre that he makes British tennis history after having his worst result of the season

[StewartyMac]

Bizarre that he makes British tennis history after having his worst result of the season

It's the Scottish way!

[Reynard]

I wonder if Murray will improve much on clay? As long as Nadal is around nobody else will get much of a look in on the surface anyway. I felt sorry for Djokavic yesterday as at times he was really ramping it up but he knew it wasn't ever enough. nadal is a machine on the clay.

What's the likelihood of Murray hauling Federer back now? Federer seems to be mentally elsewhere at the moment and might not recover his former magnificence. He has a wife and a kid on the way and his focus just can't be entirely on himself and his tennis anymore. He looks more vulnerable on the court than I can ever remember him.

[StewartyMac]

I notice that Djokovic actually pulled further ahead of Murray in the rankings today as the points for last year's Rome tourney don't come off until next week. Murray lost his points from Barcelona 2008 today.

It should all even itself out next week, where Murray will rise to Number 3, as neither player are competing in this weeks ATP events.

[Skyline Drifter]

I don't get the point of these delayed ranking drops. I know it's caused by the tournament calendar having moved slgihtly since they don't need to accommodate the Olympics and such like but I just don't see what's gained for anybody in the knowledge that last year's Rome Masters results will only come off next week and for a week the points from the same tournament in different years will both be included. It's madness. You have the ATP making a story out of the fact Murray will become No 3 next week when they drop off, why not just drop them off now?

Anyway, looking at Reynard's point, Federer is 2,610 clear of Murray this morning. That gap will close by 180 points when the Rome Masters points come off for last year. So Federer will be 2,360 clear. Between now and Wimbledon Federer is defending 2,550 points. Murray is defending 300 points so in theory that gap is coming down to about 90 points prior to them playing tourneys between now and Wimbledon. If Murray can improve what he did in the interim he has a chance to keep Federer in touch into the hard court season. Roland Garros is particularly important obviously. Fed is defending 1,400 points as runner up last year whilst Murray went out in the last 32 to earn only 150 points. A lot of ground could be made up there. He needs to avoid clay court specialists early in draws on clay probably.

[Reynard]

I don't get the point of these delayed ranking drops. I know it's caused by the tournament calendar having moved slgihtly since they don't need to accommodate the Olympics and such like but I just don't see what's gained for anybody in the knowledge that last year's Rome Masters results will only come off next week and for a week the points from the same tournament in different years will both be included. It's madness. You have the ATP making a story out of the fact Murray will become No 3 next week when they drop off, why not just drop them off now?

Anyway, looking at Reynard's point, Federer is 2,610 clear of Murray this morning. That gap will close by 180 points when the Rome Masters points come off for last year. So Federer will be 2,360 clear. Between now and Wimbledon Federer is defending 2,550 points. Murray is defending 300 points so in theory that gap is coming down to about 90 points prior to them playing tourneys between now and Wimbledon. If Murray can improve what he did in the interim he has a chance to keep Federer in touch into the hard court season. Roland Garros is particularly important obviously. Fed is defending 1,400 points as runner up last year whilst Murray went out in the last 32 to earn only 150 points. A lot of ground could be made up there. He needs to avoid clay court specialists early in draws on clay probably.

Cheers for that. I know you had gone through all of this earlier but I couldn't remember where and I am rubbish on the search thingy.

So all things being equal Murray could be within striking distance of being a top two player at some point on or around Wimbledon.

Nadal is untouchable at the moment, Federer is in a mini decline and may not have the same motivation as he used to have. Murray is looking steady as is Djokovic. The rest of them have to come up with more consistency to pressurise these top four guys.

[RedWeb]

It should all even itself out next week, where Murray will rise to Number 3, as neither player are competing in this weeks ATP events.

Nole is taking part in a 250 event in Belgrade which he organises. However, even if he wins it the points he loses from another 250 (Sydney) means he'll still be behind Murray.

[pollymac]

I don't get the point of these delayed ranking drops. I know it's caused by the tournament calendar having moved slgihtly since they don't need to accommodate the Olympics and such like but I just don't see what's gained for anybody in the knowledge that last year's Rome Masters results will only come off next week and for a week the points from the same tournament in different years will both be included. It's madness. You have the ATP making a story out of the fact Murray will become No 3 next week when they drop off, why not just drop them off now?

Anyway, looking at Reynard's point, Federer is 2,610 clear of Murray this morning. That gap will close by 180 points when the Rome Masters points come off for last year. So Federer will be 2,360 clear. Between now and Wimbledon Federer is defending 2,550 points. Murray is defending 300 points so in theory that gap is coming down to about 90 points prior to them playing tourneys between now and Wimbledon. If Murray can improve what he did in the interim he has a chance to keep Federer in touch into the hard court season. Roland Garros is particularly important obviously. Fed is defending 1,400 points as runner up last year whilst Murray went out in the last 32 to earn only 150 points. A lot of ground could be made up there. He needs to avoid clay court specialists early in draws on clay probably.

1610?

[Skyline Drifter]

1610?

Elementary arithmetic feck up by the poster who claims to be 'The Numbers man'

Sorry!

[Skyline Drifter]

Cheers for that. I know you had gone through all of this earlier but I couldn't remember where and I am rubbish on the search thingy.

So all things being equal Murray could be within striking distance of being a top two player at some point on or around Wimbledon.

Nadal is untouchable at the moment, Federer is in a mini decline and may not have the same motivation as he used to have. Murray is looking steady as is Djokovic. The rest of them have to come up with more consistency to pressurise these top four guys.

As pollymac has pointed out, I'm out by 1,000 due to complete idiocy so ity's even more likely that Murray can close that gap right up and even pass Fed. If Murray can reach the last four at Roland Garros it would look almost certain and last eight would give him every chance. Federer has to outpoint Murray by 1,000 points or so between now and Wimbledon to remain in front going into it. He may well do so but it isn't a certainty. Much depends on which Murray on clay is the real one these days, the one who reached the semis in Monaco and even worried Nadal briefly, or the one who lost his first game in Rome despite being a set up.

[Reynard]

As pollymac has pointed out, I'm out by 1,000 due to complete idiocy so ity's even more likely that Murray can close that gap right up and even pass Fed. If Murray can reach the last four at Roland Garros it would look almost certain and last eight would give him every chance. Federer has to outpoint Murray by 1,000 points or so between now and Wimbledon to remain in front going into it. He may well do so but it isn't a certainty. Much depends on which Murray on clay is the real one these days, the one who reached the semis in Monaco and even worried Nadal briefly, or the one who lost his first game in Rome despite being a set up.

Thanks for that. I have not really looked around too hard for the points in the rankings or what points are disappearing after each tournament.

Sampras was never especially good on clay when he was in his pomp so maybe Murray will just have to grind away. Not sure he has the game to make it a good surface for him. Mind you Nadal is pretty much invincible on it anyway so the rest are fighting for the scraps points wise. I suppose Nadal could get injured and drop points that way but he looks too good for the rest of them at the moment. And his game is so solid on all surfaces.

Hopefully Murray will work away on his clay court game and at least give himself a chance against the rest of the players. Especially the random clay court specialists that spring out the woodwork atthis time of year.

[th1stleandr0se]

Well, it's official now. Those of you who know how this all works, is there a likelihood of Djorkovic getting back at Murray or is he "defending" too many points in the near future?

[Skyline Drifter]

Well, it's official now. Those of you who know how this all works, is there a likelihood of Djorkovic getting back at Murray or is he "defending" too many points in the near future?

There's more chance of Murray catching Federer imminently than Djokovic coming back at him.

Murray is currently 1,180 behind Federer and 70 points ahead of Djokovic.

At the end of this week Fed loses 700 pts for last year's Hamburg Masters. Murray loses 150 points and Djokovic loses 450 points for the same tourney.

So before results this week in effect Federer will be 630 ahead of Murray who will himself then be 370 ahead of Djokovic.

Then from Roland Garros Federer is defending 1,400 points, Murray 150 points and Djokovic 900 points. That means before the Madrid Masters and French Open points go on the effective actual totals are:

Federer 8,070

Murray 8,690

Djokovic 7,570

Murray only needs to roughly match what they do over these two tourneys to move to No 2.

** Proviso - I haven't looked at the calendar of events to see if there's anything significant in between the two events this year that wasn't there last year.

[The Woolshed]

There's more chance of Murray catching Federer imminently than Djokovic coming back at him.

Murray is currently 1,180 behind Federer and 70 points ahead of Djokovic.

At the end of this week Fed loses 700 pts for last year's Hamburg Masters. Murray loses 150 points and Djokovic loses 450 points for the same tourney.

So before results this week in effect Federer will be 630 ahead of Murray who will himself then be 370 ahead of Djokovic.

Then from Roland Garros Federer is defending 1,400 points, Murray 150 points and Djokovic 900 points. That means before the Madrid Masters and French Open points go on the effective actual totals are:

Federer 8,070

Murray 8,690

Djokovic 7,570

Murray only needs to roughly match what they do over these two tourneys to move to No 2.

** Proviso - I haven't looked at the calendar of events to see if there's anything significant in between the two events this year that wasn't there last year.

think the only main difference will be hamburg being a 500 event rather than masters

[Skyline Drifter]

Murray follows up his somewhat hard fought battling win over Bolelli with a more comfortable 7-5 6-1 win over Tommy Robredo. Decent win over a decent player in front of his home crowd.

Now faces either Wawrinka or more likely Del Potro in the q-f's. Del Potro would be a real test on a surface the Argentine will much prefer to Murray. He'll do well to get beyond that tie.