Andy Murray faces three foes: only two play tennis
The Times, 27th January 2010
Having beaten Rafael Nadal yesterday, Andy Murray is now two victories away from becoming the first British man to win a grand slam since Fred Perry in 1936. There, I’ve just made it harder already.
In fact, there are three obstacles in Murray’s path, only two of which are tennis players. The third — exuberant British expectation — may be the toughest of the lot.
Our inability to produce a tennis player capable of winning one of the four elite tennis titles has become a national neurosis. The symptoms are embarrassingly predictable. The first is impatience. Like children waiting for the sweet shop to open, we ask if this is finally Andy’s turn, as though such things are determined by rota.
The second symptom is a misplaced sense of entitlement: we care, ergo we will shall be rewarded. In fact, although Murray is now too media savvy to admit it, the burden of British expectation is a tiresome encumbrance for the young Scot.
Worse still, entitlement all too easily lurches — with bipolar giddiness — into our default position of national self-loathing. Cut out and keep today’s articles about Murray’s grit, steel, fitness and toughness. If he loses the semi-final or final, reread them alongside the next morning’s cuttings about his inability to seize the big opportunity.
The reversible theme of expectation/betrayal provides the media with two stories for the price of one. Given that Murray is allegedly being carried on the shoulders of the great British public, if he wins it’s the people who won it. If he loses, let the inquest begin: unlike those ruthless win-at-all-costs Yanks and Swiss (I know, don’t ask) we’re too nice/ amateurish/ middle class/ modest/ polite/ comfortable/ Scottish/ British (delete according to preference).
So the pundits really can’t lose. Murray, on the other hand, most definitely can. The expectation game short-changes everyone, most of all him. Winning a tennis grand slam is one of the hardest challenges in sport, and Murray is attempting it just as the game is enjoying a golden era of great players. Murray was talked about as the favourite at Wimbledon last year — despite the presence of Roger Federer with 14 grand slam titles to his name at that point. That was just stupid.
The “it’s Andy’s year” refrain is already getting boring. That is unfair on him and underestimates serious sports fans. They will understand that if Murray does win a grand slam — whether it is in Melbourne or at Wimbledon — we should have the courtesy to enjoy it in real time, not wearied by the misconception that it was always predestined. No one has a right to win a grand slam. Uncertainty is why we watch sport.
Ed Smith is a leader writer at the Times. Follow via twitter on edsmithwriter