Earlier today, Andy Murray booked his place in the 2010 Australian Open, after beating Marin Cilic (3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2) in the semi-final. Murray will play either Roger Federer or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final on Sunday the 31st of January. It is the British No.1’s second Grand Slam Final, after he lost 3-0 sets to against Federer, in the 2008 US Open.

The match itself between Murray and Cilic wasn’t that remarkable, but there were two or three moments from Murray that could go down in tennis folklore. The moment when Murray returned a lobbed Cilic effort was indeed a stroke of genius. The return was so accurately hit, that Cilic barely moved as it flew past. Murray roared his delight and the packed crowd jumped to their feet in appreciation.
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Andy Murray took the bad news on the chin as he dropped to fifth in the Tennis World Rankings. It is a bitter blow to Murray, no matter how positive an outlook he puts on show, inside he’ll be hurting as he gears up to play in the Australian Open Championship early next week.

Murray made a serious contribution last year towards his efforts of being No.1 in the world. Yet, despite rising to 2nd seed in the world rankings he failed to win an Open Championship. Since then he has been pushed down the ranking ladder by fellow competitors Rafael Nadal, Serbian Novak Djokovic and now Juan Martin del Potro. Roger Federer is still seeded No.1 in the world.

The 22 year old Scot, understands he needs to up-his-game more. He is no longer the fledging, tormented teenager with the Gregory Girl’s hairdo. Tennis can be an unforgiven sport as Tim Henman knows only too well. Henman suffered from the Grand Slam hoodoo and as each passing attempt slipped away, the pressure intensified as it came around to Wimbledon.
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At the end of this month (August 09) the last tennis major of this year – The US Open – will be contested and the bookies have placed Britain’s Andy Murray as 2nd favourite. Murray claimed the seeding of No.2 in the World Tennis rankings earlier in the week and this must boost his confidence about winning the US Open – it’s certainly boosted the bookies thoughts on his chances. But let’s be clear about this, no matter how we feel about Murray, his position of second seed is as much to do with Nadal’s long-term injury than Murray’s winning performances in the Masters series.

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After Andy Murray’s historic late night slog under the roof and lights of Wimbledon’s centre court, finally this championship has come alive. Many will wonder just how much effort was sapped from Murray as he battled to beat Stanislas Wawrinka (2-6 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-3). Now, Murray faces Juan Carlos Ferrero, in Wimbledon’s Quarter Final as he aims to be the first British champion in over 70 years.

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Is it possible, can Andy Murray possible win Wimbledon 2009? If you were to believe the TV advertisements that are currently running on UK TV just now, then the short answer is yes! Hype is a great tool and the ad people are on full swing at the moment promoting Andy Murray as the next British Wimbledon champion in waiting. If you think the coverage of Murray on UK media is bad at the moment, wait until he progresses deeper into the tournament. Then the real pressure will kick in, just ask poor Tim Henman how that feels.

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Andy Murray scraped through into the 3rd round of the French Open 2009 yesterday, after a torrid game against the Italian, Potito Starace, ranked 104th in the Tennis world seedings. Murray had started well, with his serve overpowering Starace to take the 1st set, easily 6-3. But things turned sour for the young Scot in the second set with Murray’s short game crumbling on the clay surface.

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Cynical media types, unable to see beyond the apparent British malaise that seems to afflict all our sports people these days, will look at Andy Murray’s defeat to 14th seed, Fernando Verdasco, in the fourth round of the Australian Open and say to themselves ‘here we go again.’ This is a sentiment, time and time again rejected within these columns and this blip in Murray’s meteoric rise to Grand Slam contender, causes us no loss of faith in the Scot to eventually deliver the goods.

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One, or perhaps even two, eyebrows may have been raised by the shrewder members of the tennis betting fraternity at the positioning of Andy Murray as favourite to win next week’s Australian Open, the first of the Grand slams in the tennis calendar. Roger Federer expressed surprise when he heard but then, isn’t this no more than a churlish remark to be expected from a vulnerable champion whose reign might soon be over? I’m not so sure. There is no doubt that Andy Murray has moved into a challenging position when it comes to the year’s forthcoming Grand Slams. He has demonstrated focus, indomitable will and a huge strengthening of skill over the last year. His wins in Abu Dhabi and Qatar have bolstered his confidence and set him up perfectly for his first Grand Slam of 2009.

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One of the major British stars to shine in 2008 was 21 year old, Tennis ace, Andy Murray. We have been avid fans of Murray here at the Free Bets Blog now for some time and it seems that the moneymen in sport have also become firm admirers. It has been reported that Murray could see his wages swell to a staggering £100 million in 2009 as a bidding war breaks out between a number of advertising management agencies desperate to sign Murray’s signature. Not bad for someone who has shown potential to win a Grand Slam.

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IÂ’ve written a few times about Andy Murray recently and I was going to give the man a rest from my musings but, such was the feeling of elation that I felt when I heard he had reached the final in the US Open, that I just canÂ’t help but celebrate this event in print. IÂ’m sure all tennis fans will join me in this salute to a sportsman who has transcended the cynical dismissal, by sports writers who should know better, of any potential he might have to achieve more than the long suffering Tim Henman.

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