Murray Seizes The Summit
2016 has been an incredible year of tennis, and especially for British tennis. The rise of Jo Konta, Andy Murray's second Wimbledon and Olympics titles, and now, the British number one finishes the year as the top ranked player in the world, ahead of arch rival Novak Djokovic. Murray moved ahead of Djokovic with a win in Paris, but went into the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals knowing that if Djokovic out-performed him, then the Serbian would regain his status as No.1. And so, after both players won all four of their matches, Murray two epic shootouts with Nishikori and Raonic, yesterday they met in the final. And Murray blew his opponent out of the water.
At the very top level of sport, it can be extremely hard to tell whether one player is simply playing badly, or whether his opponent is playing so well that he's simply preventing the player from getting into his rhythm. And this was very much the case last night. After the opening few service games, which saw Djokovic start slightly faster, the Serbian simply had no answer to how effective Murray was. Was it that Djokovic was simply bad? Or that Murray was playing so well that Djokovic couldn't settle?
In situations like this, I prefer to take the middle ground and say that it's very much a bit of both. It takes absolutely nothing away from Murray to suggest that his opponent was slightly out of sorts, and nor does it let Djokovic off the hook to suggest that he simply had no answer to how good Murray was. In actuality, Murray was both absolutely exceptional, and Djokovic nowhere near his best. Was it the case that the latter led to the former, or the former the latter? Or was it simply a bit of both? Certainly there were occasions in the match where Murray was absolutely unplayable, and in the second set Murray's backhand was ripping some truly sumptuous winners that even Djokovic at his best would have been totally unable to stop. But at the same time, Djokovic missed some truly staggering shots, including a mind-blowing overhead smash miss at 3-2 in the first set, and a wretched forehand volley coming to the net at 2-1 on Murray's serve in the second set.
But overall, whether it was cause or effect, the truth was that Murray was utterly sublime, and totally outplayed Djokovic. Having put immense pressure on the Djokovic serve at 3-2, Murray eventually did break in the 8th game of the first set to make it 5-3, and then comfortably served out the set.
It was the start of the second set when Murray threatened to run riot, and turn what was already looking like a comprehensive win into a humiliating one, as Murray broke twice in the early stages and almost broke thrice, meaning that he could easily have been 5-0 up instead of the 4-1 lead he opened up. Djokovic broke back to 4-3, but Murray held on to take the set 6-4, and with it the match.
This was, as any match between these two would be, a match of ebb and flow, but Murray could very easily have won every single game between 2-2 in the first set and the end of the match, as he had break points in every Djokovic service game between 2-2 in the first set and 4-1 in the second. Djokovic had to fight to hold at 3-2 and at 6-3 2-0, with Murray seemingly unrelenting as Djokovic increasingly struggled to gain a foothold in the match.
This might not have been a Grand Slam victory, but it will have felt almost as good as one to Murray. So often in the past, he has lost both the physical and the mental battle to Djokovic, despite being able to hold his own in terms of the quality of tennis. But last night, he won both, with Djokovic having played three and a half hours less tennis this week looking the more tired man, and moreover, whilst Murray pounded on mentally, Djokovic completely lost his head. It's very rare to see Djokovic so beaten, mentally and physically, but then he has had a very hard back end of 2016, and his fitness levels have clearly taken a beating. What's more surprising is how Djokovic lost his head, given how his mental strength has always been one of his greatest attributes, especially against Murray but maybe the one has led to the other.
So the big question from this is one that we won't get the answer to until the end of January. Now what? Has Murray finally turned a corner against Djokovic? Or will the Serb be back with a bang in 2017 to clean up the Grand Slams again. As magnificent as Murray's 2016 has been, he still has lost his last five Slam matches to Djokovic since he last beat him to claim his first Wimbledon title three years ago. So is this victory a massive psychological blow, and a ceremonial passing of the torch? Or will Djokovic return to form and retain the two Slams that he currently holds in 2017? I think that Murray will win a Slam in the next twelve months, mostly because I think it's impossible for Djokovic to win all four and Murray should beat everyone else on the tour, but I remain unconvinced that Murray will be able to win more Slams than his biggest rival over the next twelve months. And now that he has the number one slot, Murray has to be trading in Slams from now on.
Boro 0-1 Chelsea
We've seen Chelsea put in some really vintage performances in their last few games, putting eleven without reply past Southampton, Everton and Man United is no mean feat. But this was not one of them. That's not to say Chelsea played badly, because they did play well, but this was a performance that was not as polished or perfect as recent weeks. But nevertheless, it was effective. David Luiz in particular was excellent defensively, the wing backs were a constant threat, and Diego Costa did what Diego Costa does best, score goals and link up well with those around him. Costa seized on the one moment of poor Boro defending off a corner to slam home the best sniff of a chance that he got all game, and then spent the rest of the match watching his teammates miss chances that he put on a plate for them, as Pedro was denied brilliantly by Valdes, hit the bar, and took too long to turn in the box, and Victor Moses fired high and wide when set through by the Spanish striker.
Whilst Chelsea had the games' best chances, that wasn't to say that Boro weren't also dangerous, as they were excellent for the most part, particularly defensively, as Ben Gibson was utterly imperious and central defensive partner Callum Chambers totally unruffled. Clayton, Forshaw and De Roon all impressed me too with their energy and work rate in the middle of the park, and certainly Boro are a very industrious side.
But their problems came in the final third, where they really did look, although they played well, slightly short on quality and ideas, although they did run up against arguably the best defence in the league and certainly one of the top two on current form. Nevertheless, Alvaro Negredo contributes very little to this team, and certainly doesn't contribute goals, having failed to score since the opening day of the season. He had one good moment against Chelsea with a lovely piece of control and shot, but ultimately failed to offer much as a front man. It seems to me utterly baffling that Jordan Rhodes isn't getting at least a chance from the bench more often in this side, as he was once again an unused sub yesterday. Away from Negredo, with Downing reduced to a late cameo and no Stuani at their disposal, Boro were reliant on Gaston Ramirez, a player whose ability and talent is obvious but he is their only really good attacking option and he is at best inconsistent. Moreover, whilst Adama Traore has pace to burn, he clearly doesn't know what to do once he has beat a man, something he managed to do 12 times against Chelsea, without producing anything close to an end product.
Overall, Boro fought very hard, and played very well, but ultimately Premier League matches are decided by fine margins, and whilst Chelsea were nowhere near their best, they had a 20 goal a season striker to stick the ball in the back of the net, Boro did not, and Costa pounced on the one key mistake made. Boro made that mistake, Chelsea did not. And as a result, Chelsea are back on top of the Premier League for the first time since they won it. It's going to be a cracking title race.
The Hard and Fast Section
- England imploded. Because of course they did.
- Two week ban for Launchbury. Cited.
- Southgate has interviewed for the England job. Now we wait.
- West Brom v Burnley tonight. Mid-table clash.
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