Kohlschreiber defeats struggling Murray in Monte-Carlo
Philipp Kohlschreiber was the player on the other side of the net in Andy Murray’s second-round loss at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters today, but it’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that this was a match that was won and lost between the Scotsman’s ears.
The German deserves due credit for limiting Murray’s opportunities in his 6-2, 6-1 victory but the third seed struggled to mount a challenge against Kohlschreiber, who told Sky Sports afterwards that he’d played an “almost a perfect match from beginning to end”.
Try as he might, the world No. 4 couldn’t convert defence to attack and counterpunch his way to victory. Perhaps the most telling statistic of the match is one that Kohlschreiber had no ability to influence, and that was Murray’s first service percentage, a woeful 37%.
The explanations will no doubt be forthcoming from the 22-year-old, but his form in his last two matches – losses in his opening match of his two most recent tournaments – indicates there’s something amiss with Murray’s game.
After losing his opening match at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, the Briton admitted that he needed to “get my head right”. After today, one can only assume that is still a work in progress.
His lacklustre performance is in stark contrast to the exciting brand of tennis Murray employed on his way to the Australian Open final at the beginning of the year. At Melbourne Park, the Scot added a more attacking element to his game and demonstrated his full tactical mastery of tennis, playing to his strengths and exploiting the weaknesses of his opponents.
That is until world No. 1 Roger Federer inflicted the second Grand Slam final defeat of his career on the Dunblane-born player.
“I can cry like Roger, it’s just a shame I can’t play like him,” an emotional Murray lamented during the presentation ceremony at the Rod Laver Arena.
The problem lately has been that the Scot has struggled to play like his 101st-ranked Sony Ericsson Open second-round opponent Mardy Fish, or world No. 33 Kohlschreiber today.
The emotional exhaustion of that Australian Open loss – never mind the mental fatigue that must come with shouldering the weight of Britain’s tennis hopes – appears to have extracted more than it’s due from Murray since then.
The British No. 1 waited until the Dubai Tennis Championships in late February to make his return to the court, and after experimenting with his game, he bowed out in the round of 16. His next tournament at the BNP Paribas Open, the first Masters 1000 event of the season, resulted in a quarter-final loss when Murray couldn’t overcome a slow start against Sweden’s Robin Soderling. No great shame in that, it happens to the best of players.
Then came the loss to Fish, who to be fair played impressively on serve with 10 aces helping him to win 81% of his first serve points, and now to Kohlschrieber, who must be pinching himself that, in the first match against Murray in his career, victory came so easily.
After his premature exit in Miami, Murray acquired a wildcard to play in Barcelona, but on the evidence of today’s performance, that’s a move that might just have backfired.
Somewhere between Melbourne and Barcelona, Murray’s enthusiasm for the game seems to have been lost in transit; bouncing from tournament to tournament has become more of a job than a joy.
If Murray was driven to play in Barcelona to gain some valuable ranking points as he jostles for position within the top five, it was a failed expedition. If it was to build his confidence and form on clay ahead of the French Open in late May, then the trip was still a waste of time.
If he was looking for some sunshine to lift his spirits, then there’s a sparkling blue ocean not so far from centre court at Monte-Carlo and he might do well to spend some time on the sand rather than the red dirt courts that stretch from here to Roland Garros.
A break from the grind of the practice court and competition looks as though it might just do Murray’s game more good than harm at this stage.
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