Golden Boy

Roger Federer has a Rafa Nadal problem. Rafa has a Novak Djokovic problem. Novak has a Roger problem. Poor Andy Murray has a lot of problems. Andy lost to Novak in the semis of the Australian Open. He was no match for Rafa at the semis of Roland Garros. He was reduced to tears after losing to Roger in the finals of Wimbledon just a couple of weeks ago.

This has been the story of Andy Murray's career. He has been to four Grand Slam finals already but has never managed to win one. The Scot was simply unlucky to be Britain's only tennis hope during the time that Roger, Rafa and Novak were extremely dominant. It has been said several times that Murray's tactical, but defensive, game would not be enough to topple the big 3 and win him a Grand Slam. His strategy of just waiting for his opponents to make mistakes was just not going to cut it.

I can't remember the specific match that I saw that made me a big Andy Murray fan. I remember becoming a big Ana Ivanovic fan when I saw a replay of her semifinal match on tv against fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic during Roland Garros '08. I just remember being impressed by how cleanly she hit her forehand. Up to this day, I still think it's the most beautiful shot in the game. I took tennis lessons before just to be able to copy the Ivanovic forehand (to no success). I know Ana's game like the back of my hand and heck even her body language when she enters the court. My friend Erny and I would text each other every time we are able to catch a match of hers live on tv. We would make predictions as to how she would play judging by how she looked and acted as she entered the court. It may be a talent but we are rarely wrong when making Ana-related predictions.

I have seen a lot of Andy's matches even before I became a big fan of his. While I admired his very tactical game, I just wasn't that enamored with it in the beginning. On the men's side I tended to root for Roger or Novak a lot. In a match that doesn't feature any of them, I root for the, uhm, more good-looking player (e.g. Ernests Gulbis, Tomas Berdych, Juan Monaco, Simone Bolelli). But then came one eureka moment when I was watching Andy in a Wimbledon 2010 match. I can't remember who he was playing against but something just clicked inside my brain. I was suddenly able to distinguish how differently he adjusted his game, specifically how he hits his backhand, from one surface to another. It was like my mind became a television screen and Andy's game was shown on slo-mo and in several split screens playing on a slow hard court, a clay court, a grass court and a fast hard court. I think it was during that time that I realized, for better or worse, that I was a bona fide tennis nerd. From then on I realized that I was watching tennis from a very technical point of view.

After that match, I just couldn't switch the channel every time an Andy Murray match is on tv. I started reading articles about him and I just totally fell in love with the guy's dry British (or Scottish?) humor and with the unintentional hilarity that seemed to follow him.  It also helped that he is very complimentary of women's tennis (I'm looking at you, Gilles Simon) and that his girlfriend's dad (Nigel Sears, dad of Kim Sears) is currently coaching Ana. Probably what I found most endearing about him was how honest and aware he was of the pressure of being Britain's great tennis hope in probably the greatest men's tennis era of all time. Andy knows how talented he is but is just unable to get to the next level. He's a classic Feza fave: an extremely talented person who chokes when they are about to reach their moment. I guess I'm lucky that I attended a school for fans that taught students how to poke fun at their favorites that's why I am still able to  root for the likes of Ana Ivanovic and Andy Murray a.k.a. headcases. I still believe, no matter what, that (a) Ana can win another Slam, (b) that Andy will defeat one of the top 3 in a Slam final and win at least Wimbledon and that (c) they can still be multiple Slam champions. I always add, though, in the end that (d) "I'm  delusional" and that (e) "the tennis gods have put a curse on me". I know. It's like believing in unicorns and in flying pigs.

But, at least for the past week or so, Andy was able to prove that (d) and (e) are not always true. He was able to prove that rooting for headcases is not always a lost cause. I know that winning a gold medal at the Olympics may not mean the same as winning a Grand Slam for many people but, hello, how many tennis players can claim that they've won a singles gold medal? Not even Roger, who has won a career Slam and has 17 Grand Slam titles, can claim that he has won a gold medal on his own (I refuse to include his doubles gold medal with Stan Wawrinka in the statistic). Not even Novak with his invincible 43-0 win-loss record at the start of 2011 has a gold medal. With the right mix of defense and aggression (and an improved forehand, thanks to his coach and tennis great Ivan Lendl), Andy defeated both Roger and Novak on his way to winning the gold medal at the Olympics, in front of a hard to please home crowd. (Rafa, I hope he gets a chance against you next.) Obviously I'm praying that it could lead to a US Open title but I'll try not to think too far ahead. This is still Britain's first gold medal in tennis since 1908 (!). So, as a fan, I'm savoring this moment. This is as good as a Grand Slam and he officially won the gold medal as a representative of his country. The British tabloids can mock him some other time.