Top

Murray: It was an incredibly positive year


 

Originally published on: 12/11/12 00:00

After a stellar year, which saw him win the US Open and Olympic gold, Murray says it would be “silly” to head into the off-season downbeat after losing to defending champion Federer 7-6(5), 6-2 at The O2 in London.

“It was an incredibly positive year,” said Murray. “I mean, I would have loved to finish the year on a win, of course. But for me, it's been the best year of my career by a mile. So why I would look back on that negatively now would be silly because I've achieved things I've never achieved before. I have to look back on it positively. If I don't, then that would be worrying.”

Murray set out his intentions from the beginning of the year when he added eight-time Grand Slam champion Ivan Lendl to his team and the benefits were evident immediately. The Scot collected his first title of the year in Brisbane but it was during the four-hour-50-minute loss to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Australian Open that the 25-year-old showed glimpses of what was to come. No longer content waiting for his opponents errors, Murray admits that his biggest improvement this year was the way he approached the big points in the big matches, taking his play to his opponents rather than being dictated by them.

“I think that's what I have to be most pleased with because when I had opportunities in big matches this year, I did try and take them,” he said. “I went for it. You know, I still need to learn sometimes a little bit when that's off and I'm not hitting it as well to, you know, rein it in a little bit. That's something that will come with time. But that would be the thing I'm most pleased with, that I've been trying to go out there and win matches rather than waiting for my opponent to lose them.”

The Dunblane native will now finish the year inside the world’s top three for the first time after finishing No.4 for the last four years. “If you told me last year I'd be sitting in this position with the results I had last year, I would have agreed and signed up for that straight away,” Murray concluded. “I'm happy with the year and I'll work really hard in December to get better.”

Murray’s year by numbers

Tournaments – 19
Titles – 3: Brisbane (d. Dolgopolov), London Olympics (d. Federer), US Open (d. Djokovic)
Win-loss record – 56-16
Grand Slam record – 22-3
Masters 100 record – 12-7
Vs. top 10 opponents – 12-9

Want more? Click here to subscribe to tennishead, the world's greatest tennis magazine. Available in both print and digital.

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here


Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.