It is now or never for Andy!!!!

Congrats Andy, great effort payed off.
I am totally rooting for you if you play against David. If, however, Nole is across the net, sorry mate :))).

Congrats to Andy ... and his beautiful fans :)))

hope I'm not being presumptuous, zare, but thanxx.

it was crazy tennis out there today, but it was always going to be the guy who could improvise and adapt that was going to come off best.

...and Sean Connery just drop in Andy's presser... and made show... :)

Thanx zare and danica. Gr8 fans of tennis :)
No, it's not "now or never." Andy's tennis and his mind set are improving all the time and he will get many more chances. He's now been in two finals and a semi this year alone and heading into playing the best tennis of his life.
Hmm, our Andy doesn't do "celebs." Hope Connery was invited in.

yeah, Murray is winning a slam whether he wins this one or not

You never know what's gonna happen. You gotta take your chances. Roddick took his chance in the USO 2003. You never know when a Federer could came up and ruins all your dreams.
Remember Coria ? When he lost RG against Gaudio all the people were saying "he still have time"... look at him now, where is he ?

Delpo, another example. He TOOK his chance, now, with these big3, its almost impossible for him to win another one... although he is still young.

The train passes few times in your life, and you never know what's gonna happen.

Andy HAS to take this chance. It's his train, right now.

i don't think any single person on this entire planet said that about Coria. LOLOL.

I knew for 100 percent certainty that his career was over when he lost to Gaudio.

That comment about Coria was just absurd! Needless to say I do not agree with Emiliano's reasoning.

Delpo suffered a serious wrist injury. Up until that point, things were looking great for him. I believe he was only 20 or 21 when he won the 2009 USO. He didn't do anything wrong or not take his chances. He got injured badly enough to require surgery. He was out of the game for a year. It took him another year to get back in the top ten.

When Roddick won the 2003 USO, it seemed to be just the beginning for another great American men's tennis player. However, someone named Federer came along and changed everything. Roddick had no control over that. He was not able to beat Fed. He lost about four finals to Fed. So that was it for him. This was circumstance and the arrival of a great player. It would take someone like Rafa to beat Fed.

The train doesn't pass only a few times in a tennis player's life. For Murray it has passed more than a few times. This is not do or die! The game doesn't work like that.

I think this kind of reasoning is not only flawed, but is a distorted kind of thinking. If Murray doesn't win the USO, the idea that he will never have another chance is ridiculous!

Lendl anyone? He didn't win his first slam until he was 25. Many wrote him off, called him a choker, said he couldn't win the big one. Thank goodness he didn't have this philosophy of the train passing only a few times. He came along in an era of great men's tennis players. That was the problem. It's the same with Murray.

Whether Murray wins or not, the sun will rise and set tomorrow and life will go on.

You said it all, you never know what's gonna happen. You never know when a injury can come up, or a player can come up and ruin all your future like Fed did with Roddick.

Coria was just an example. And excuse me, but where were you living guys ? The entire world was saying he was still young to win the next RG, for god sake.

Andy was really lucky, the train has passed so many times for him already. This is another stop, and he HAS to take it. We don't know if there is going to be another stop for him.

yeah, Federer really "ruined" Roddick's career

#facepalm!

As for Murray's chances, there won't be another Federer anytime soon. Federer's rise was fast, but it wasn't out of nowhere. We would know of someone now if he had a chance of becoming the next Federer in four years (the remainder of Murray's prime).

So, unless Djokovic wins the next 16 slams in a row, then Murray should have a great chance even if he loses on Monday.

This might be a first, but I agree with Ricky. *gapes*

When Roger and Rafa were youngsters, we already knew that there was the potential for big things. Now obviously, nobody could have guessed that they would have unprecedented consistency, but when we saw Rafa ripping up the clay season when he was still a teenager, we all said, "Hmm. We're going to have to watch this one".

Same thing with Federer. He didn't hit his prime until his twenties, but even before he was The Federer, we had glimpses of utter brilliance. There doesn't seem to be anyone coming up that is of that caliber at the moment.

I do not agree at all. In a sport career anything can happen (well, in life indeed).
Chances needs to be taken. And Andy is REALLY lucky to have his 5th chance... there are such a few players that have the luck of getting so many big chances in a sport career. He has to take this one.

there's nothing lucky about it, to be quite honest

Emiliano55 is delusional. He must be a Fed fan.

Just imagine Ferrer taking out Nole here, Murray would win without beating anyone of the top three guys, what a good opportunity for him to win his first slam. Berdych and Ferrer would have done all the hard work (of kicking out Fed and Nole) for Murray. If it really come to pass, that Nole is being kicked out by Ferrer, Murray should really seize this opportunity to get his first slam, thereafter he can have all the time in the world to figure out how to beat the other three guys in the slams, with the pressure off him. Still, if Ferrer is good enough to beat Nole and reaches the final, he has every chance of winning this title too.

Delusional Emiliano thinks Muzza is lucky to reach 5 slam finals.
The only lucky one is Federer who peaked during the weak era. By 2007, he was the establishment man with Forstmann who controlled ATP through IMG, even betting on Federer.
From 2007 Fed has been aided by rigged draws and favorable schedules which have allowed him to gain an unfair advantage over the other three.
The best thing that can happen to tennis is if this greedy self centered player retires. We may then probably expect fair draws and scheduling.
Although much is made of the lack of a roof at USO, not many mention the unfair scheduling, letting Fed play first and dragging the first round to three days.
After Fed retires, the US Open guys will stop pretending to be morons and helpless in the face of bad weather. They can easily come up with fair scheduling.

Emiliano55, 9/9/12 4:10 AM,

Sorry, but again I disagree! I think it's kind of insulting to Andy to say that this is all about luck. He is the one who hired Lendl as his new coach, he is the one who has been working on aspects of his game and also his mental preparation. He earned those chances in previous slams. He bumped up against two of the greatest players of all time.

Also, I do not believe in absolutes. I have watched this sport all my life. I am not an expert or a tennis writer or analyst, but I have learned from watching over decades. There is no such thing as now or never! It doesn't work that way. Of course no one ever knows what will happen in sport or life. But that doesn't stop you from persevering even in the face of disappointment. If Andy really believed what you are saying, then he would go out there all tense and wound up and would certainly lose. You never say never. A player has to go out believing he can win, however he also had to be able to deal with defeat if it happens.

Your philosophy is a kind of "awfulizing" that can be very destructive. This idea that if someone doesn't take on specific chance or opportunity, then it's all over is the kind of thinking that could destroy a career.

Whether it's hear and now or at the 2013 AO or whenever, Andy has to keep fighting and working to play his best. Fortunately for him, he now has the perfect coach to help him. A guy who went through the exact same thing and never gave up.

Emiliano55 insults Muzza by calling his final appearances luck. It can happen by luck once or twice, not 5 times. Besides, Muzza doesn't have to wait for a Fed to turn up. Fed has always been there playing his mind games and benefiting from rigged draws and scheduling. It maybe of interest to you to know that Muzza has a significant positive h2h against Fed unlike Roddick.
If the Wimby draw hadn't been so brazenly rigged, Fed wouldn't have been so fresh or Muzza so tired before reaching the final. Tsonga commented that Muzza was exhausted.
Had Muzza been fresh he would have thrashed Fed just as he did at Olympics.
It is really ridiculous talking about Muzza in this fashion.
Just because Fed won his slams by luck and draw/schedule fixing, it doesn't mean everybody reaches slam finals through luck.

I have to agree with ricky here..there is no another federer here, if there is any one that's going to be murray here. If murray changes his on court frustrations he can control the match from any situation.Once he wins his first slam he can experiment with his game and he can develop that FH DTL shot which is missing in his arsenal,once he gets that shot it's almost impossible for any one to beat him in his peak. Just like federer he will be major contender in AO, Wimby, US open.

^^^^ Ahem, but i remember a Rafa beating Fed at Miami 2004, Dubai 2006, AO2009, all on hard courts and two of which when Rafa wasn't even at his prime and Fed was. Are you saying Murray will be better than Fed at his peak? And I do remember Fed was playing very well at the Dubai 2006 final, so don't tell me we didn't have a peak Fed in that match.

I really don't like such over the board praises about any player. Please, nobody is unbeatable. Fed at his peak can be beaten, likewise for Rafa, I don't think Murray is any exception. It's not like Murray can develop his game further but Rafa and Nole can't. They won't remain stagnant.

@Luckystar, I feel nobody said a player is unbeatable... If Murray develops his range and shots, then he is be major contender in AO, Wimby & US open for sure... French Open - i'm not sure till Rafa is the King...

Lol..i am just comparing player's styles and their technique, for me murray's game is a lot close to federer's game both are very talented and magicians on the court.

What is this obsession about rafa for u, why do u need to compare everything with rafa..yeah rafa is a exception for federer's match up but for murray not any more. I think murray can definitely change the loosing streak against nadal as he is younger than nadal.

Any body at their peak can be beaten that's just natural thing but at the same time they are going to grab majority of GS that's what matters here like last year's nole captured 3 GS and beaten by federer in RG.

nny - wise words again, well said.

lucky - you touch on something that needs said - ferrer is a brilliant player. in the brief time on court yesterday he looked to have handled the conditions by far the best.. attitude, consistency, fitness, movement, defence, skill, lethal forehand, all round game, he's got the lot, and will not go away for anyone. i still take nole to win in 4 or maybe even 5 sets, but if ferrer wins the thing absolutely no one will say it's undeserved.

^^^You don't understand right? You're the one comparing Murray to Fed, so I mentioned that as great as Fed was at his peak, he was still beaten by a guy named Rafa, so are you saying that Murray will be better than Fed, that he's almost impossible to beat?? Do you get that logic?

Likewise if you compared Murray to Rafa, I would have brought out Nole as someone who's able to beat Rafa. Do you understand now? You're the one obsessed with Fed, comparing everyone who has potential to a Fed at his peak, and yet you're accusing me of being 'obsessed' with Rafa!

You're comparing Murray to Fed? I can tell you their differences, first their game styles are totally different, one chooses to play first strike tennis with an aggressive mindset, the other prefers to work the points (very much like Rafa). Second, Murray's backhand is his main weapon,unlike Fed's SHBH. Also Murray's forehand can never be like Fed's, I afraid. Third, even though both have deft touches, only one chooses to attack the net most of the time, the other prefers to stay at the baselne, prefers all the running along the baseline and retrieving shots. Murray has all the varieties in his game style, something even Fed couldn't do.

Murray plays more like Rafa and Nole, though he's more a counterpuncher. He may one day be like Rafa and Nole, becoming a successful defense/offense player. I don't think he'll be like Fed, an all out attacker. I think Tsonga is more like Fed in his attacking mindset, and his great net game. It's a shame Tsonga isn't capitalizing on what he has, needing a coach to help maximizing his full potential.

Its all about Murray or an upcoming Federer who may stop him :-)

Are you guys indicating that Nole and Rafa are evaporating in mid air and disappearing? Dont write either of them off. I think slams will be split between 3 of them going forth and neither of the 3 will dominate each other.

Murray can change his style of play based on opponent, for example yesterday in the 1st set he choose to be defensive and it's not working so he immediately changed his style and take the charge in second set, he is completely aggressive.

you are comparing murray with nadal haha..that's never going to be happen, nadal is more of grinding his opponent..that's why he can never be like murray..Nole is a hybrid of both fedex and nadal, he is defensive against defensive players and offensive against player's like federer.Nole looks very good against a defensive player who doesn't have any variety, once a player comes with lot of variations in his game that's where nole struggles lot..

You see nadal is already 26 by the next AO, he may not real contender due to lack of match practise like that, his real chance is RG that also based on favourable draw like nole and federer ending up on the same draw....

For federer i don't see any slam favouring him, i will give slight chance in W & US..

^^^^

The bias in this comment is almost laughable! Rafa is a grinder? I thought we were done with all that nonsense! Rafa is both and offensive and defensive player. Only someone who is blind would fail to see that. He has a superb net game and a deft tough with his volleys. JMac has said he is the best volleyer in the game! Also, Rafa has changed his strategy to become more offensive minded, moving into the court to close out points more quickly and being more aggressive. Rafa will always have his brilliant defensive skills. That's not grinding! This is the kind of propaganda we have heard all too often from people who don't like Rafa. It's a real disservice to him.

Also, regarding the match with Murray and Berdy and changing tactics. In case you didn't notice it, Berdy pretty much went away in the second and third sets. It wasn't so much what Murray was doing, as much as it was what Berdy was NOT doing. Berdy is not mentally strong and has always been a bit of a bird brain on court. It took him until the fourth set to finally wake up and start playing tennis again! So your statement was not accurate.

Finally, to answer sanju's question - in no way am I writing off Rafa! Or Nole for that matter. I think the two of them will continue to compete for slam wins for a while now.

@Emiliano
#Andy"Lucky"That'sSoRude
#RicksterUnbiasedUnlikeMe
#Perha psYouShouldListen

Now back to biased old me. Andy is like Fed in one respect, the number of tricks in his magic box.

Hey i am not talking about my personal opinion, Nadal he himself said in his autobiography that he grinds himself against roger in one way or the other federer is finally going to make mistake and gives up..the best example is this AO..

It's not about nadal plzzz, i don't even want to talk about his game style..i found murray's game quite fascinating and like to watch..so don't bring nadal into mix here..i know what happens next and i don't have time to indulge in such non sense..i have had enough of this BS..:)

The only BS we have on this thread is by Fed fans who write total bs like Emiliano and chenna. And chenna has this habit of attacking others although he writes drivel. I remember he attacked conspirator about random draws and then despite my taking pains to explain why his argument was fatally flawed, he couldn't see the flaw and continued his drivel and made the claim that he is a civil engineer. Clearly he is neither civil nor an engineer and if he has an engineering degree then he is probably responsible for all those collapsing roofs and bridges we read about in newspapers.

looking good murray from the small amount i've seen of the open

chenna, if Murray was that much better than Rafa how come Rafa has a 70% success rate against the current top 10 to Murray's 50%, and a 13-5 h2h against Murray, PLUS 11 GS to Murray's 0, PLUS 7 RG titles to Murray's 0, to winning 8 consecutive MC titles in a row to having the Golden Slam to..........................................you know the rest.

Now back to biased old me. Andy is like Fed in one respect, the number of tricks in his magic box.
deuce , 9/9/12 10:41 AM

Seems like their magic don't work on Rafa. 11-5, 18-10.

Corr

Seems like their magic don't work on Rafa. 13-5, 18-10.

I don't care what label Rafa haters give his game, the bottom line is that he beats all of them MOST of the time.

chenna has no basic logic or math to be able to explain anything. Facts are uncomfortable things for Fed fans as facts show Federer has been bested by Rafa.
They find fault with Rafa's style, they discount clay, they discount the famous head to head, they allege Rafa is cheating. All this only to create the sand in which to bury their heads to avoid facing the truth that Fed is a fake GOAT.

The reason they haven't worked for Andy is that up to this year he's been a head case.
No need to put Andy down either and this thread is about Andy and Berdych, remember.

Why must Fedfans resort to profanity during discussions? BS this, butt this, butt that........

Is their vocabulary really that limited? What is wrong with these people........

chenai, what's your definition of 'grinding'? I'm sure Rafa didn't say that he 'grind' his way to beating Fed. FYI, working the points to trap your opponents, forcing them to make errors doesn't mean that you're 'grinding' out a win. Tennis is not only about first strike attack, if not all those big serves big forehand guys will all be the top guys!

Murray has all sorts of varieties in his game style, he can counterpunch, S&V, varies his pace, and play attacking tennis. Fed OTOH doesn't have as much varieties as Murray, so don't flatter Fed on this front. Murray can never be another Fed, for he's not one with an attacking mindset, it's not his natural game. Both Rafa and Nole are more aggressive than Murray. I don't know where you get that idea that Rafa is defensive player. Just hecause he can retrieve many balls doesn't mean that he's defensive; go watch how he played this FO or the clay season of 2010, or even further back during FO2008, and see for yourself whether he's defensive? Or IW/Miami this and last year and USO for the past two years, and see how he played on the hard courts and see whether he's being defensive.

Not everyone has to rush the net to be aggressive, one can also be aggressive while being a baseliner. Where playing defence/offence is concerned, only Nole can match Rafa, they both are the best defence/offence players around.

So deuce, tell the likes of Chenna not to bring Rafa into the discussion.

Oh and chenna, don't compare Fed to Murray. Fed can never play like Murray, Fed simply doesn't have the varieities in his game style, he only knows how to attack. Ask him to stay at the baseline and retrieves every ball, or throw in some junk balling, I'm sure he can't do it.

And Murray did counterpunch most of the time, so he's more like Rafa and Nole, only not as aggressive in his mindset. You hardly see Murray starts a match by doing the attacking, he prefers his usual counterpunch style, unless it fails and he has to change his gameplan.

Murray's 4th set win yesterday shows he has matured a lot under Ledle.

Meanwhile Nadal is training very hard how to stop picking ....
So next year we will see a different Nadal.

I never bring rafa into any sort of discussion by myself, i am just comparing both the games of federer and murray, it was lucky who brought nadal into discussion.

Yeah u keep telling that murray always starts defensive to some other, the best example u can look at the Wimby final and Olympics final where murray was super agressive write from the begining....

Defensive skills of federer are known to every one and finally i am not a fool to take ur bait...i know the skills of both federer and murray...

Ahem, so you pick the recent two tournaments and assumed that Murray play that way all the time? That tell me you hardly watch any of Murray matches! Why don't you bring up his match against Cilic this USO, or many of his other matches in the past?

Fed's defensive skills can never be compared to the other three top four guys, and that's obvious for all of us to see. And why are you thinking that I'm baiting you? I'm simply refuting some of your ridiculous asumptions!

You're obviously a biased person, saying that Rafa winning the FO would depend on his draw! Since when Rafa winning the FO has to depend on the draw?? I would say Fed winning any slam has to first depend on whether Rafa is across the net or not!

chenna clearly doesn't know much tennis. So no point in trying to explain anything to him. He is obviously lying about Rafa saying he grinds.
From his posts it is clear he has no clue about Rafa, Fed or Muzza's game.
As for vmm, he obviously suffers from anal fixation and a doctor's office, not a tennis forum, is where he needs to go to address his issues.

Yeah i pick recent matches of murray because he is changing into a completely different player, earlier i used to don't like murray's because of his defensive boring counter punching and mentally nut case but it's not the case now.This year i am seeing completely different player...
Federer's dfensive skills at his peak are only matched by only nadal, no one even come close to this..u can see 2006 Master's cup SF between rafa and fedex, what a match that is ..it's where i felt his defensive skills are out of this world.

If i am biased person i would have said fedex is the favourite for every slam but i am not i know the realistic situation here so i give him slight chance for fedex at W & US..I only said about rafa that because he is not in his peak any more and after watching this year's RG final, i have a feeling that Novak is a strong contender for RG ..u can say 2010 example but that's not going to happen this time because of his age...You can say any thing about Federer now because age is not on his side now..whatever he wins that's a gift for me..i don't care about his losses to Nadal..as long as he wins another slam i am happy for him, if not then also i am happy, he already given me lot of good memories this year...:)))))))

chenna, if you weren't biased you wouldn't call Rafa style grinding.

Anyway, it takes 2 to grind, Nadal can't keep the points going on his own or maybe the other players are not capable of imposing their style on him.

Yes, we heard you twice the first time @vmm, you have a thing for Rafa's butt.......

Sigh............

What I can see from this year's RG, in fact the whole clay season, is that Rafa is even more aggressive than in the past, and that's why he didn't lose a set the whole clay season (except on that fake blue clay surface) until that FO final, not forgetting the weather played a part in him losing the set. It's not because it rained, but the stupidity of the organiser, of not covering the court and allowed the clay to turn into mud, and allowing the balls to soak up the moisture and turned into mud balls, thus hindering the movements of the players and allowing Nole to hit as hard as possible without worrying that he would miss the lines.

In fact what I saw from this FO was that Rafa's clay court game had gone up another level, he's certainly more aggressive than in the past, no longer playing only from the baseline. While other players may improve on various surfaces, Rafa is not stagnant, he's also improving. There's no proof that Murray after winning the USO (if it really happens) would suddenly turn into a monster that Rafa and Nole or anyone else find if impossible to beat him!

vmm just google "ass fetish" and stop wasting everyone's time on TT.

#10-18

Stop the presses! Chrissie Evert has just proclaimed that, on the back of this performance, Berdy will not only win a GS but will also get to #1. I almost fell out of my chair!

Does that mean that Andy's going to get to 1* then Lol.

Wft ? I have never called Andy lucky for getting to 4 GS final! For god sake!! You guys really surprise me everytime. You let the fanboy inside of you to come out off the jail and say stupid things. You even cannot understand the concept of a post when someone is tryign to make a point about a player, and your next comment is "emiliano is a fed fan". God sake, this is just ridiculous!!!

IM NOT A FED FUCKING FAN. I like him, but I also love Andy. They are both my favourites players of these era. I also liked Rafter, Hewitt, Sampras, Agassi, Nalbandian, Rios and Safin in the past.

I said he was lucky because he stayed healthy, he kept his good level and no player came in to "ruin" his chances like it uses to happen. THAT'S WHY HE WAS LUCKY. I'm not saying had 4 GS finals just because of luck! He deserved every one of those. And he fucking deserves a GS! I would love to see that.

Now he has to take this chance, you never know what's gonna happen.


Stop with the bias for god sake and learn to understand concepts.

^^^^

You need to learn to post without profanity! In capital letters no less! Don't you have a better way to communicate? Because one thing I will tell you - no way are you going to convince anyone or get a point across with that obnoxious and profane language!

I wouldn't even bother discussing this anymore with you because you can't respond properly.

Keep it real and understand that not everyone will agree with you! So get over it!

Just one more thing. If you want to talk about Coria, at least get your facts straight! In 2004 he had surgery on his right shoulder! How come you forgot that little tidbit of news!

He still managed to appear in five finals after that 2004 RG defeat. So who had no more chances? Oh and one of those five losses was to a young player named Rafa in the 2005 Rome Masters final. Here's another fact for you - Coria managed to reach the fourth round of all the slams in 2005, one of only three players. The other two were Fed and Nalby. Also he did win a final in July 2005 in Croatia when he defeated Carlos Moya in there.

As 2005 drew to a close, Coria started to develop what was called "yips" in his serve.

^^^^thank you, @nny, I wish people would realize that profanity does NOT make people more attentive, quite the opposite......just de-bases the user.

Sorry, I hit send before I finished my last post. More information on Coria - He got to the quarterfinals of the 2005 USO against Robby Ginepri. But his double-faults at the crucial part of the match cost him the win.

If we are being accurate, the problems in his serve and general loss of confidence could be attributed to his three final losses to a young Rafa more than Gaudio.

Sorry to go off topic again, but this person brought it up in the first place in trying to make a point. So I wanted to present the facts about this player. It shows even more that there is no such thing as "now or never"! There are always more opportunities in this sport.

It was kind of absurd to even bring Coria into the discussion. Murray will have his chance to win his first slam. If he does it, that will great. If he doesn't, there is no question that he will have more chances.

That is the point I was trying to make and I stand by it.

I wish people who like using profane language would go to tennis-x blog, they absolutely LOVE communicating at those levels over there...........

ritb,

You said it! Now that's where profanity rules the day! I would ask that Emiliano's post with this profanity be deleted, but there doesn't seem to be much of that happening on this site. At least I got my response to the profanity on the record.

It has always been my belief that those who resort to profanity are doing so because they cannot make an argument.

"It shows even more that there is no such thing as "now or never"! There are always more opportunities in this sport. "

Nice statement, but I disagree. IMO it's absolutely incorrect. This is a sport, and like all sports, it is about now or never. What defines ones legacy, one's professional career, is not how many chances they missed. It is defined by the opportunities they took, when they had the chance.

Are you saying he has not had enough chances? That he will continue to be a force for the next 4 or 5 years? How optimistic of you.

However, with the current and upcoming competition, and how fast it's growing, getting another chance to make history is slim at best. It's plainly obvious that the peak years of an athlete are between the mid twenties across nearly all major sports. Murray is no Fed or Rafa. Murray may get his chances, but he also already had chances (multiple). And when you play a sport like tennis, you don't play to win one GS, you play to win them all. A perfect example is Andy Roddick. Had he taken his chances, he would have walked the game with 6 GS, but instead he is walking away with 1.

That is the difference between players like Rafa, Nole, and Fed versus Murray/Roddick/Hewitt. The former are playing for a place in history to leave a lasting legacy. What you're saying is that you think it's easy to win a GS. History will tell you, it's not.

Murray must win tomorrow and prove his critics wrong. How demoralizing would it be for him to lose yet another GS final? Especially for a player who has yet to win a GS. Rafa losing to Nole is different because Rafa obviously already had accomplished a lot.

If you could stop belittling a GS final, that'd be great. Cheers.

Emiliano,
I wouldn't worry about the people who are trying to twist your words. They knowingly post garbage just to try to elicit profanity-laced replies so they can call in the moderators to try and get you reprimanded. They would love for this site to be all Nadal fans so they can fawn over Nadal in his underwear commercials, music videos,etc.

NNY,
I see you're trying to act as the self-appointed moderator again. Nothing changes in 3+ years. Sigh.

Rafa is like a rock star from day 1.
No wonder even Fed fans are fascinated by him.

chr18,

Who asked you? Was I talking to you? No! As far as posting garbage, I've got nothing on you with your pathetic poetry, hateful comments about Rafa and his fans and even attacking the women who post on this site. So you are the last person to be lecturing about anything!

As a matter of fact, profanity is against the rules of this site. It's not my rule! I also am tired of you picking up the tired old refrain of the likes of Sienna and maltheser aka maxi aka fleur! They were banned for personal attacks including profanity! So all they can do now is attack the Rafa fans who are able to stand strong on this site.

Stop doing their work for them or go join the hatefest on tennis-x!

Ahem, so Nole mentioned that he and Murray have similar game. That's further proof that I'm right about their games and proof that chenna wasn't watching how Murray was playing all along. As I've mentioned, Murray isn't an aggressive player and try as he may have, he just can't change his game or his mindset totally. Murray is already 25, he's not 18-19, so he can't change his game drastically and suddenly becomes an offensive player. Furthermore, Murray's uniqueness and effectiveness are in the way he plays all along, I'm not sure he becoming an offensive player will make him impossible to beat, as where offensive game is concerned, the top three guys are all better than him. Murray's counterpuncher game is the most effective against Fed, not his offensive game; Murray's junk balling, off pace ball striking is the most effective against Nole, not his offensive game. Only when playing against Rafa that Murray needs his offensive game, for Rafa could handle his counterpunching, off pace or his other varieties better than the other two guys could.

aegis, 9/10/12 1:45 AM,

I absolutely disagree with you 100%! I never said that players shouldn't take advantage of opportunities! Do you read what people say here? However, what I did say is that if they don't succeed, then they should not give up and keep trying.

Everyone knows that a tennis player's prime is a finite amount of years. So you are not saying anything new there. The fact is that Murray came along in an era where two of the greates of all time were dominating. As a matter of fact, for a good while no one could break through! Nole finally got his first slam win in 2008, but it would take him three more years to get another. It sure wasn't for lack of trying! He had fitness issues, mental toughness issues. He worked hard to come back strong in 201 and dominate in a way that no one had since Fed and Rafa came on the scene.

As a matter of fact, I do believe that Murray can continue for another four or five years. Do you remember someone named Lendl? He didn't win his first slam until the age of 25 and if you want to discuss missed chances, how about the three slam finals he lost at the USO to either Connors or McEnroe! So what should he have done? Given up and packed it in? No, he kept on working hard and once he broke through for his first slam win at RG against JMac, there was no stopping him. Lendle made the most of his chances from that point on, but defeats are a part of this sport. Lendl had to leave the game before he was ready because of back problems, but he made his mark.

The great champions play to win, not to have a place in history! That is the icing on the cake! You really don't have an understanding of what this sport is all about.

Anyone who says that this is Murray's last chance or only chance and it's do or die, doesn't know what on earth they are talking about! That is my last word on the subject.

Typical Fedfan whining:

Rafans fault we use profanity;
Rafa's fault we dislike him;
TT's fault we do not post more frequently because it's full of Rafans......

Blah, blah, blah.........

Lendl was 24 when we won RG in 1984 (Born in March 1960), after trailing 2 sets to McEnroe.

Murray if not winning this US open, no chance in 2013 where it will be all Rafa and Nole

I'm sorry I don't understand you holdserve. Could you explain to me what "rigged draws" means?

^^The Oracle Spreaks!
Andy has no chance to beat Novak or Nadal on a hardcourt next year? lol
Think again.
Regardless what happens Today, Murray is on a steep incline in results, experience ability & maturity.
I said he would be the one for this US Open although I was still a little surprised he managed to get to the final..
But if Andy does win Today, you can bet there will be more than the Nadal n Novak show next year.
It will be the 3 muskateers not 2.

Of course Murray can beat Nadal or Novak on a hard court, but not in a slam. He has done it once in 2008 on a tired Rafa. Best of three is a different matter altogether. For Slams you need the killer instinct which presently only Rafa and Nole owns in abundance. I am really worried my one time idol IVAN should not end up a Larry Stefangi - bringing his pupil only upto the final!!

^^Yeah yeah yeah,
You may have to review your attitude going on.
Andy is about to be a different player to the one we have witnessed before.
He realises he has to be aggressive and has been working towards this for the last year with increasingly better results.
The old Murray is too passive thing is ANCIENT news.
he almost beat Novak this year on a slam HC and has beaten nadal in OZ before.
And was beating him before nadal got injured so dont go into it.
You know there comes a point when the penny drops & you move up.
It's happened for novak it will happen for Andy too,
Maybe tonight.

I will be happy to chanage my opinion, but when he failed to do the job done in the semi final in AO this year, with the lead he had, some thing found lacking. Nothing suggests there is a visible improvement. Let us hope. I fully agree with you that if Andy takes this US Open, it will be 3 muskateers - without any doubt.

"Nothing suggests there is a visible improvement..."

Don't agree, the olympics suggested as much to me, even the Wimbledon final in a way too. Also the % increase in key stats particularly serve % overall from the start of the year. And that FH has really picked up.
He's the most improved player of the top 4 and i dont see why it won't continue.Getting to this final despite having the more difficult draw is another step in the right direction.

I noted his cross court back hand is very lethal - too fast!! He had fnatastic matches till the final - one with Cilic, Raonic etc, but during final, he is still nervous. If he plays with free mind, he is a master., but in a Slam final, he cannot play with gay abandon, that is the problem in hand. Wimbledon, he had momentum, full crowd, behind him, still fell short due to the pressure. But in Olympic final, Federer was more nervous since that was his last chance for the gold medal.

Agree with velliat53 here. Sure, Fed had turned the momentum at Wimby before the roof closed but the "perfect" conditions definitely hurt Muzz's chances of getting back on top of the match.

#RoofsAreForSissies