Andy Murray’s losing streak in Grand Slam finals – Tennis special
It has been almost five years now that Great Britain’s best tennis player in last many decades, Andy Murray, is among the top four in the world but has failed to win even a single Grand Slam.
Everyone who follows tennis would surely know that no matter how many smaller titles one wins but he cannot enter the list of best in the history if he does not make success at the Grand Slams. Jimmy Connors won a record 109 ATP
Singles titles but he is not considered to be a bigger player than Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Rod Laver, Rafael Nadal because these players have won more Major titles.
Tim Henman carried British flag in the second half of nineties and first half of 2000s but Murray announced himself to be his replacement, when he captured his maiden title at the SAP Open in 2006.
The new British number one kept on improving his performance and ranking steadily. The London, England resident advanced to his first Major final at the 2008 US Open but was downed by the then unbeatable at Flushing Meadows, Roger
Federer, in a one sided match. However, with that performance Murray entered top five players for the first time in his career.
Losing his first Grand Slam final was a disappointment for Murray but it happens with many top players that they fail to perform at their best when performing for the first time at the biggest stage, so it was normal and nothing
to worry about much.
Now Murray was waiting for his second chance. He performed superbly at tour level tournaments in 2009, winning a total of six titles but he failed to reach the final at any of the four Grand Slams.
The British star’s wait ended at the start of 2010, as he reached his second Grand Slam final. He thrashed the then world number two, Rafael Nadal, on his way to the Australian Open title match. However, his final’s result did
not change, as he once again lost to Roger Federer without even winning a single set.
Again, Murray grabbed a good number of ATP World Tour events during the rest of that year but he could not reach the title match at any of the following three Grand Slams in 2010.
Australian Open provided another chance to Murray exactly after one year and this time one thing in the Brit’s favour was that Federer was not standing in the other half of the court in the final. However, there was no change in
his fate, as he was badly beaten by Novak Djokovic this time.
The British star lost in the semi-finals of four straight semi-finals after that and was upset by David Ferrer in the 2012 French Open quarter-finals. Though, Murray’s luck favoured him, when Rafael Nadal lost in the second round
of this year’s Wimbledon Championships and his way was cleared. The Brit remained strong and reached the final, getting a chance to become first player from his country in the last 76 years to capture title at All England Club.
This was Murray’s best chance till that time, as he was playing in front of his home crowd but the worst part was that he found Federer once again on the other side of the net.
This time, Murray started off brilliantly, as he won the first set but he could not maintain the standard till the end, losing three in a row after that to go down in his fourth straight Grand Slam final. Great Britain’s top player
was so disappointed that he could not stop his tears during the trophy award ceremony.
Murray will now part in the US Open hoping to end the Grand Slam drought. The Brit has one thing in his favour this time that he has recently won Gold Medal at the London Olympics. It would help him in overcoming the pressure of
a Major final this time.
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