Murray is primed for an assault on the established order, the axis of dominance that Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have imposed upon the rest of the field for the last few years. And he is not doing it alone.Murray, coming off a tournament championship last week in Qatar which included victories over both Federer and Andy Roddick, emerged last year from a pack of players hovering inside the top 10, breaking clear of the likes of Roddick, James Blake and Nikolay Davydenko en route to a world No. 4 ranking.
The 21-year-old Murray appears to be one of only two men with the game, and most importantly the belief, to break the monopoly at the top. Surely there are obstacles, as Federer’s superhuman brilliance has taken him to 13 Grand Slam titles, while Nadal’s march through 2008 became one of tennis’s greatest seasons.
But Murray showed much promise last season, with a run to the U.S. Open final – where he beat Nadal in the semis before losing to Federer – being the headliner of his year. There also were two Masters Series triumphs, with Murray winning five matches in six days in both Cincinnati and Madrid, evidencing his rapidly improving fitness levels.
Murray has got a chance the next few years, and as the years go by I guess his chances increase because he is becoming a better player. But there are a few other guys out there who want their first Slam, not only him.
And Murray clearly wants a Slam, but he’d “settle” for being top dog and claiming the No. 1 rank.
“I would like to win a Slam but I think anybody who gets to world No. 1 will have shown great consistency and deserves to be there,” Murray said. “If you reach the top at anything you do it is something to be proud of.”
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