ANDY MURRAY TRIUMPHANT FROM RICHARD EVANS, LONDON

Written by: Staff on 20th November 2016

ANDY MURRAY TRIUMPHANT FROM RICHARD EVANS, LONDON |

A little while after Andy Murray had finished taking a zillion selfies with fans on the edge of the arena, I went up to the ATP hospitality suite at the top of the vast 02 complex and tried to find some people – people who knew what they were talking about like ex-players – who had thought he was going to beat Novak Djokovic in the final of the ATP World Finals.

No takers. Peter Fleming, now with Sky Sports, Stefan Edberg, Henrik Sundstrom who beat John McEnroe in the 1984 Davis Cup final, and former Hungarian No 1 Balasz Taroczy were the first people I asked. The answers were similar. Djokovic had come good during his straight set demolition of Kei Nishikori while Murray would not have enough left in the tank after his 3 hr 38 minute slugfest against Milos Raonic. That had been their thinking and they were all surprised and slightly in awe of Murray’s accomplishment while being a little disappointed that Djokovic had not been able to put up more of a fight.

So I walked over to chat to the two people who, more than anyone else, could tell me how he’d done it. Jamie Delgado and Matt Little have been with Murray every inch of the way – every day, every week and, most importantly, every training session during the Scot’s momentous year. Because they run them.

Occasionally Ivan Lendl, the head coach, is there, too, but it’s Delgado and Little who put Andy through his paces and monitor his physical capabilities down to the finest detail. “And he is incredible,” said Delago, the Brit who went to school with Tim Henman and played doubles on the tour for years. “He’ll be on his knees – literally on his knees – after an endurance session and he won’t want to stop. ‘Give me a minute and I’ll do it again’ he’ll say. He works harder than anyone I have ever known. Somehow he convinces himself he enjoys it. He’s driven.”

So Delgado and Little are not as concerned as some of the fans when Murray looks dead on his feet after a 30 stroke rally. “Give him that 90 second sit down at the chair and he’ll be ready to go again,” says Delgado. “We know that. We’ve seen it time and time again.”

So have his opponents. During this amazing, unprecedented run of success that has brought him 24 consecutive victories and five titles since October, they have been unable to wear him down or force him into decisive error.

Since he lost to Rafael Nadal in the semi-final of Monte Carlo in April, Murray has reached the final of every tournament he’s played with the exception of the US Open where Nishikori beat him in the quarter finals. Since the run of titles began with Beijing and then Shanghai, Vienna, Paris and now London, it seems as if Murray has forgotten how to lose.

Britain’s Andy Murray arrives on court ahead of his match with Novak Djokovic of Croatia during the final of the mens singles at the ATP Tour tennis finals at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 20 November 2016. EPA/ANDY RAIN

It has not always been easy. It took him 3hrs 20 minutes to be Nishikori in the round robin at the 02 which was a record for the longest match ever played in the history of the ATP Finals over three sets. A few days later he broke it with that epic marathon against Roanic which saw him blow two chances to serve out for the match; save a match point in the third set tie break and then win it 11-9. The crowd were in agonies of suspense, despair, joy and ultimate jubilation.

Surely that would have drained the tank dry. But, as I said on Twitter before the match, the mental aspect could well turn out to be more important than the physical. Djokovic had looked almost like his old self against Nishikori in his semi-final but was his focus really restored? After six months that were as disappointing as the first half of the year had been fantastic, the Serb who had dominated the game for so long suddenly ran out of confidence. It can happen. Ask any athlete who has been at the top. Suddenly for whatever reason, things don’t work the way they did. The reasons can be varied but the solutions are elusive.

Djokovic was an honest and generous loser. “People were thinking maybe he’s going to be a little tired but he didn’t seem to be,” he said. “More than anything he felt comfortable in the rallies and knew exactly what to do. On the other hand, I hesitated and it didn’t work. There was no serious chance for me to win the match today. He was just a better player all in all.”

Despite the fact that he looked positively sprightly for a man who was supposed to be running on fumes, Murray knew full well that the key to his chances lay in getting the job done quickly.

“It wasn’t really until the middle of the second set that the rallies started to get extended and my legs started to feel it,” Murray said. “That’s why it became harder to close the match out because I knew the longer the match went on the worse I was going to feel. And probably the better he was going to play. I was lucky I go it finished it two sets.”

True but, in reality, Murray has been making his own luck. On a journey that has turned him into Britain’s finest athlete, the 29-year-old Scot has discovered the confidence and control to make winning a habit and, by the looks of it, it is not one he intends to break soon.

Britain’s Andy Murray hols up the ATP World No.1 trophy following his win over Novak Djokovic of Croatia in the men’s singles final at the ATP World Tour finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 20 November 2016. EPA/ANDY RAIN

In the meantime Judy Murray can reflect on an astonishing achievement – that of bringing up two boys who managed, in the space of one year, to become No 1 in the world in three different ways. First Jamie became the No 1 individually ranked doubles player in the world. Then, midway through the ATP Finals, he and Brazil’s Bruno Soares, became the No 1 doubles team for 2016, having won the Australian and US Opens. Then came Andy, doubling down on reaching No 1 at the end of the BNP Paribas in Paris by finishing the year as the No 1 singles player due to this deciding victory over his greatest rival. In every sense, it has been the year of the Murrays.

And not only on the court. The brothers care deeply about the game they play and are prepared to put in time to make it better. Both were elected to the ATP Player Council this year and soon discovered what that entailed. At the beginning of the tournament in Paris, the Council with Djokovic presiding as President, began a seven hour meeting. When it started, Andy was still playing his final in Vienna. But he was there before it finished and participated during the last few hours. That’s commitment.

Topics: 02 Arena, 10sballs.com, Andy Murray, ATP Finals, Bruno Soares, Doubles tennis, Jamie Murray, London, Novak Djokovic, Richard Evans, Sports, Tennis News, World Tour Finals