Muscles & BRAIN.

he has definitely bulked up, that's for sure. The most interesting thing I read in his presser though was when he talked about how his game doesn't always look aggressive, but that due to the way he mixes up pace, that he nearly always plays a point his way. I really like watching the way he constructs his game. He plays interesting tennis in a generation of ball bashers - and is VERY successful.

muzz's virus was maybe even a bit of a god-send, giving him an enforced rest and even allowing that dodgy ankle to properly recover (which having to carry the responsibility of the entire DC result on his shoulders - and ankle - would only have exacerbated).

cherylmurray: I really welcome your comments about Andy's game, there are so many detractors about, but I too love the way he plays with his brain and the way he is continually trying to improve. His fitness has certainly helped his speed round the court, which is phenomenal, apparently he does sprint training.

Totally agree, Cheryl. His game is highly intelligent - by mixing up his shots and the pace of his shots, he throws his opponents off guard and keeps them guessing, forcing them into errors. His on-the-run forehand cross-court winners are a joy to watch. And his serves of course are a powerful weapon. Did you see that second serve ace in the second set? Phenomenal. I've noticed that some Fed fans berate him, calling his game crap, more in denial I think. Murray is a force to be reckoned with. Hope he wins a Slam soon.

I don't think it is denial. If you are a Federer fan you are more likely to like other people who play his way- aggressively. Therefore less likely to enjoy the play of someone who relies on forced and unforced errors to win, (don't deny it, he is a pusher, he admits that). Nadal fans would be more inclined to like Andy's style as tehy are more similar. Roger fans would lean more towards Novak, play wise. It is not denial that Murray is a good player, it is simply dislike that a pusher can beat an aggressor.

I do not think that second serve ace would of aced that many people... Djokvoic was playing terribly.

I think Murray has a shot at Roland Garros.

haha what a LOL!~

murray is definitely one of the fitter people on the atp tour...copes wid heat really well...he is fitter than djoker for sure...cudnt appreciate his game in indian wells final though.....rafa played very well in the wind...nd he looked out of sorts.....murray definitely a contender for me for the us and oz open.......but i wudnt expect him to be in the finals of rolland garros....rolland garros final would be between fed and rafa again in my opinion....

I dont see too many Fed fans berating Muray..heck,he's my second favourite players for his sheer intelligent play.LOL..Nadal fans make up anything..
But yes,what James says is true-The thing is Murray can play beautuful , agressive tennis if he wants to , but sticks to backboarding simply because it works these days esp. since the surfaces are slower than ever before.

Nadal is 22. Still young but after years stressing his physicality, he will eventually be tired and if it happens on Roland Garros, even Juan Carlos Ferrero can beat him like last year. Even if he's 100%, Murray's counterpunching game is very similiar to Nadal and considering he has more variety and is highly intelligent, I will say he has a very good chance to end Nadal's run.

torres9....anyone(good enough to be in the top 10) can beat anyone(even ranked no1 ) on any surface if hez better than him on that particular day.....its just that we havent seen nadal been beaten on clay that much.......if my memory serves me correctly...nadal has lost only 3 or 4 times on his beloved clay in his entire atp pro career....lost to federer at hamburg...ferrero last year at italy...nd a couple of more times earlier.....murray certainly can play defensively like rafa...we have seen him rallying from the baseline tooo...so if murray does beat nadal...it would be real exciting...wouldnt it??? well......we would get to know it in under 4 months......i still consider the spaniard to sweep the dirt season though....:)

murray facing nadal on clay would be quite boring....they'll be returning balls to each other and both wont be hitting any winners ...rallies will probably last forever...just waiting for the first one to make an UE hahahh ...i dont think murray will do badly on clay ...he will not do better than he does on Hard courts ..but he will certainly do much better on clay in comparison to last year . im looking forward to verdasco on clay ...if he produced those shots on HC ...he will do wonders on clay ...and not to forget fed ...if his UE are kept down ...we can expect some magical winners from him.

Nadal is not just a backboard on clay. He has excellent defense, this is true. But what he does so well is get other players out of position, then smacks his forehand down the line for a winner. It's really brilliant clay court tennis and the reason that he isn't beaten often on clay isn't because he never has a bad day, but because even on a bad day he is better than almost everyone else.

Murray still needs to learn how to move on clay.

I must say I've had enough of this " by mixing up his shots and the pace of his shots intelligent play" blah-blah palava.
I mena, DO YOU PEOPLE ALL READ THE SAME NEWSPAPER AND THEN DO COPY AND PASTE?
Every player mixes up their shots,and Muray has not done nothing new.
He is winning because:
he is talented
he plays defensive tennis
he is in form of his life.

i would like to add to noleisthebest's points.........

he hits great passing shots
has a good backhand
he moves really well
handles pressure well

has most of the qualities that a top player like rafa,roger have

Cheryl, you kind of just described what Murray does on hardcourts. On offense he gets the opponent out of position constantly. On defense he always makes the opponent have to hit "that one extra shot" to win the point. And, not coincidentally, the crux of both Murray's and Nadal's games is their movement. If their movement breaks down, their whole game breaks down. Which I guess is why Murray is not particularly successful on clay.

-Arvis