General / Ralph Ellis / 22 March 2011 /

He may have lacked toughness as a player but there's nothing soft about Tim Henman's criticisms of the new generation of English tennis players. And Ralph Ellis believes Tiger is spot on when it comes to Andy Murray.

When you're down you need your friends. You need them to rally round and fill you full of encouragement. And sometimes you also need them to give you a few home truths in the way only real friends can.

Andy Murray is getting both versions this week as he steps back onto the stage at the Sony Ericsson tournament in Miami. And boy does he need some help. His season has turned into a horrible flashback to last year after losing the Australian Open final. Melbourne was supposed to be his big breakthrough after Roger Federer and Rafal Nadal were both removed, but instead he lost to Novak Djokovic. And since then there have been straight sets defeats to Marcos Baghdatis in Rotterdam and to Donald Young in Indian Wells.

After trying to have some fun with a contribution to Red Nose day, Murray will also aim to lighten the mood this week by playing doubles with Djokovic, a friend from their days as juniors. And the Serb, who has gone from strength to strength since Australia by stretching his winning run to 20 matches in a row - and no, you can't count an overnight exhibition defeat against Nadal - is full of optimistic words.

"I'm sure he's going to recover because he's mentally a strong player," says Djokovic. "With his game, especially on hard courts, he will have many more opportunities."
Now that's what Murray, [15.0] to bounce back by winning the tournament in Miami, wants to hear. But what he maybe needs to hear is coming from Tim Henman, who also classes himself as a friend of the man who replaced him as British number one, but is far more honest.

Tim, unfairly labelled too nice in his playing days, has discovered a hard edge. He's given an interview today castigating British juniors Liam Broady and Oliver Golding for lacking the application to fulfil their talent. He's especially tough on 17-year-old Golding, ranked fourth in the world juniors and living in Mexico to be with his girlfriend, asking: "Is he fit? I look at his athletic ability and I question it."

But he's also weighed into the debate over who is guiding Murray's career. "I'm sure Alex [Corretja] is helping but he should have been in Australia. Andy needs some support but should he get a full time coach? There's no point if he's not going to listen."
And there continues to be Murray's problem. He's too headstrong, too keen to look for excuses, too keen to blame everybody but the bloke in the mirror.

It's a lesson that Djokovic seems to have learned and as a result is attracting support at [2.5] to oust Nadal as world number one by the end of the year. Meanwhile Murray, unless he listens to the friend who spells out an uncomfortable truth, is value to lay, even at [9.6], for Wimbledon or to back at [1.18] to go another season without a Grand Slam.

Five things you might not know about Oliver Golding

1. Born in September 1993, two years after his mum Sandra, a tennis coach, had bought a house complete with floodlit court and swimming pool in Richmond, West London
2. He began a career as a child actor by appearing in an ad for Vauxhall cars when he was still aged two. Subsequent credits included a West End run in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
3. He won a competition backed by washing powder Ariel, and gave up the stage to concentrate on sport. Richmond Council, however, banned his mum from using their garden for regular practice sessions because neighbours complained about the noise. The ban was finally lifted last year.
4. He was 14 when he met his Mexican girlfriend Carolina Betancourt at a junior tournament. He learned to speak Spanish, taking an A-level in England before moving to set up his new home in Mexico.
5. He's a natural mimic and wowed fans at Wimbledon last year while he was waiting to play by doing impressions of top players including Rafa Nadal

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