Players Under the Microscope / Simon Mundie / 28 October 2008 / Leave a comment

Three years ago we watched a talented, yet petulant and physically weak prodigy lose to David Nalbandian in five sets at Wimbledon. This week Andy Murray is looking to win his third tournament in a row from a career-high ranking of world number four. But how did he do it?

Another week, another title for Britain's best player for over 60 years. In retaining the St Petersburg title on Sunday, losing a grand total of five games in his final two matches, Andy Muray again confirmed his position amongst the true elite of the game.

He's currently ranked fourth in the world behind Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic; although on current form he could lay claim to being the top player on the planet. In his last four tournaments, he's won three, including two Masters Series titles, losing only once to an inspired Federer at the peak of his sublime powers in the US Open final. The Murray of late 2008 is strong- both physically and mentally- with a variety of shot bettered only by the Swiss maestro himself. It almost seems a question of when, not if, the Scot is going to win a Grand Slam title, and he could well be challenging for the world number 1 spot next year, as long as he can stay free of injury. So the question is; where has this dramatic improvement come from, and what does he still have to improve upon to keep up his meteoric progress?

It is just over four years since Murray first entered the psyche of British tennis fans, when he won the US Open junior title. However, many high achieving juniors have failed to go on and make their mark in the senior game, and there were no guarantees that Murray would fulfil his promise. The tennis world really sat up and took notice the next year though, when Murray took David Nalbandian to five sets in the third round of Wimbledon, having earlier easily disposed of George Bastl, the man who ended Pete Sampras' Wimbledon career and the seeded Radek Stepanek. He could clearly mix it with the best, but there were still serious question marks over parts of his game.

His physical conditioning was almost laughable, as was his surly on-court demeanour. His opponents could often see Murray was beaten long before they had actually converted match point. His coach during 2005 was Mark Petchey, a talented commentator, but one doubts whether even he would lay claim to being a master instructor.

Murray gave a glimpse of the ruthless and single minded side to his personality when he sacked Petchey, citing a different view of the way his game should progress. In stepped the LTA under Roger Draper, who were more than happy to hire the services of the man many considered to be the best coach in the world- Brad Gilbert. He had an instant impact on Britain's up and coming young star. Murray finished 2006 in the top twenty, and burst out of the blocks the next year, reaching back-to-back Masters semi-finals before injury put him off the tour for three months. Gilbert improved Murray's physical conditioning, forced him to become less passive in his play and made him an unpredictable proposition for his opponents. However, all was not well behind the scenes, and Murray again made the bold decision to jettison Gilbert. He brought in Miles Maclagon as his new coach, alongside fitness coaches Jez Green and Matt Little, a decision that was questioned in many quarters.

Early this year, the change in team didn't really seem to be working. Murray was again retreating into his passive shell, and his serve was unreliable; but unbeknown to his fans, the seeds of future success were being sewn. Under the guidance of his new set up- he was putting in some serious work in the gym, adding bulk to his lean frame. That added power to his shots, and gave him the confidence that he would be able to last the distance, no matter how long the match went on. Never more was that evident than during his recent US Open semi-final win over Rafael Nadal- when the superhuman Spaniard looked the more tired of the two as the match drew to its conclusion.

Murray also made a few technical changes to his serve, and it's now a match winning shot that gives him plenty of free points; both powerful and consistent. It could be argued he could still improve his second serve, as on occasion it does still fall short and can be attacked. However, team Murray's greatest success has been in his on court demeanour. No longer does he lope around the court, head bowed and shoulders slumped, acting like a petulant teenager. He carries himself like a winner, giving no encouragement to his opponent. Physically and mentally, he looks as tough as they come.

Now all that remains for Murray is to prove himself on clay, thus far his least favourite surface. As he is now that much stronger, he will have the confidence that he will be able to last the distance and grind out results. There is no reason he can't succeed on the dirty stuff, after all he spent many of his formative years training on that surface in Spain under the watchful eye of Emilio Sanchez, and in all likelihood it's simply a case of confidence. That is one thing the Scot is not sure of at the moment, after his incredible recent run.

Murray is clearly happy off court with his new coaching set up, and he needs only to tweak a couple of things here and there, mainly his second serve, to maintain and even improve upon his position at the top of the game. But first things first, this week he's in Paris looking to become the first man to win three masters series tournaments back to back, where he is currently [5.7] to do just that. If he manages that, we could really have something a bit special on our hands.