Title will be updated in the event of a non–clichéd Murray mint joke being discovered

And so it’s the first tennis grand slam of the calendar year, the Aussie Open. Bookies have Andy Murray, he with the “love” of the English people, has been favourite or joint-favourite with several bookies. Ladbrokes have him at 3/1 (Federer favourite at 5/2) with William Hill offering 5/2 (Federer at 9/4). Point is, he’s fourth seed, due to meet the world #1 in the semis, and yes only the world #2 – a man who Murray holds a 5-2 record over – has shorter odds.

A lot of this is due to Murray’s form – he is the the tour’s form man. If we go back to after the Olympics, where he was embarrassed by Yen-Hsun Lu (who?), his tour record is 29-3 – and that doesn’t include two Davis Cup wins and another three when winning some random invitational thing in Qatar sponsored by Donald Duck or somebody. The only person who is close to that happens to be the world #1, who Murray has beaten twice in that period.

_{As an aside, Lu won his first match at Melbourne.}

And of course, we all remember what happened last year, when Murray disappeared into the abyss against a “nobody” in Jo-Willi Tsonga. I say “nobody”, because I considered Tsonga to be one of the most dangerous unseeded players in the draw. The same “nobody” went on to lose in the final to Djokovic, took a Masters Series title and is seeded 5th this year.

This year, he faces Andrei Pavel. Given he played five matches last calendar year and hasn’t won a match since mid-November 2007, Pavel’s only made the draw because he’s an old man with a dodgy back. (There is more to it than that, but it’s hard to make the intricacies of protected rankings sound interesting) Yet despite being an old man with a dodgy back, he’s a wily old man with a dodgy back.

With all the hype about Murray being the first British man to win a singles Grand Slam title since about 1655, it would be a bit of an anti-climax for him to bow out at the same stage he did last year. And of course, should he beat Pavel – which, frankly, he should – he’s up on last year’s result and picks up more ranking points. Which would be a good thing, in case you didn’t know.

The draw works kindly for Murray. Pavel will be a test, but Murray should be more than equal to it. Given his section of the draw, after a relatively easy second round match the opponents will get steadily more taxing before the likes of James Blake or Tsonga await in the quarters. Just the best time to start hitting the big boys.

With Murray no longer scared of anyone and in the form of his life, it’s as good a chance as he’s had to win a Slam so far – but only if he appreciates the threat of an old man with a dodgy back first.

: 19 Jan 2009 16:00 |  Tags: Sport Tennis |  Comments (1) |  Report a problem