US Open - Reed: True number one Murray will win US Open

Eurosport - Fri, 21 Aug 17:20:00 2009

Simon Reed agrees with John McEnroe that Andy Murray is favourite for the US Open - and believes that the Brit is the true world number one.

TENNIS 2009 Murray - 0

It was fascinating to read John McEnroe's comments about the two Andys - Murray and Roddick - being his favourites to win the US Open at Flushing Meadows. Mac is spot on, because both have good chances - but one has a much better chance than the other.

And that man is Andy Murray.

Roger Federer might be the bookies' favourite, and the Swiss seems to have become a sort of Grand Slam specialist, just as the Williams sisters are in the women's game. Federer never used to be that way, but there's no doubt he is now only really interested in winning the Majors.

With that in mind, you need to take a few wobbly results in other tournaments with a pinch of salt. That said, you need a hell of a lot of salt to rub away the sort of capitulation he showed against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga last week, where he blew a 5-1 lead in the final set.

Federer just isn't the player he once was. He might still be world number one, and in my eyes he is the greatest player in the history of the game - but he is still losing his powers, despite his wins at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

I still think he was handed both those titles, and while it's not impossible that he will pull off another win at the US Open, it's hard to see it happening.

As for Andy Roddick? A couple of months ago I would have said that he had no chance at all of winning another Grand Slam title. He had been so overshadowed by the world's top four for so long that it looked like there was no way back.

But he's turned things around incredibly well, finding that combination of belief and aggression that players need to win the biggest tournaments.

It's hard to say whether his belief has helped him to be more aggressive or whether a new aggression has boosted his belief. It's a chicken and egg situation. But for my money, improvements to his forehand and some extra bite in his backhand have been the keys for him.

Those improvements to his ground strokes have made him a more complete player, and with that awesome serve - that's as good as it ever was - he could genuinely challenge for the title in New York.

Roddick certainly has a better chance than Rafael Nadal, who is clearly still not 100 per cent fit - and given how much Nadal's game relies on his astounding physical condition, he is effectively out of the running until he's back to full strength.

Nadal is just not right at the moment, though, and from the way his season has gone it looks horribly like he may never be, which would be a terrible shame for the world of tennis.

But with no Nadal to worry about and Federer looking out of sorts, Andy Murray is the man to beat. His form and confidence at the moment are absolutely sky-high.

Of course Murray has yet to prove he has the bottle to win a five-set final in a Grand Slam, and there is always the danger that he has peaked too soon.

On top of that, there's still a physical question to be answered. Murray is clearly awesomely fit, but going all the way through the draw in these warm-up tournaments in the hot, humid conditions of the North American summer is incredibly demanding.

Still, Murray's fitness is as good as anybody's these days and he is surrounded with people to keep him in top shape.

On August 2009 form, Murray is the favourite for the US Open for no other reason than that he is currently the best player in the world. And whatever happens at Flushing Meadows I believe he will soon become world number one.

Simon Reed / Eurosport

Comment 218 - 237 of 257

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  1. The true world number one is just getting his arse­ spanked by the false world number one.

    From Csaba, on Sat 22 Aug 7:44PM

  2. 1. Andy Murray, who has not yet won a grand slam,­ "deserves" to be world number one.

    2. Dinara­ Safina, who has not yet won a grand slam, "should­ not" be world number one.

    Both these statements­ by Mr. Reed. Come on!

    From AR WB, on Sat 22 Aug 5:45PM

  3. Simon Reed , you are the true number one bullshiiter

    From ozlenhakan, on Sat 22 Aug 2:35PM

  4. I think that we shouldn't vote for "Will Andy­ Murray ever be no. 1?" on the main page, i think­ we should vote for "Should Simon Reed be fired­ from Eurosport?" I think there will be 100% for­ the "yes" answer1

    From teddy05091990, on Sat 22 Aug 2:23PM

  5. I laughed with delight when I read this article since­ Simon Reed always writes total garbage and is almost­ always wrong in his predictions. That's Murray­ stuffed, then, and here's hoping the incomparable­ Rafa Nadal wins the US Open!

    From creamola.foam, on Sat 22 Aug 10:06AM

  6. Dear Simon ... its about time you found something else­ to do with your time. If you think having to win 2­ very tough set 5 matches on the way to winning the FO­ or winning 16-14 in the 5th set of the Wimbledon final­ is being "handed" the trophies, then I­ don't know what planet you're on.

    From plumpot77, on Sat 22 Aug 9:55AM

  7. Murray will soon lose his no.2 ranking, wait and see,­ wait and see.

    From Csaba, on Sat 22 Aug 8:58AM

  8. pity on you Reed!!!

    From oj, on Sat 22 Aug 5:59AM

  9. "And just because of 1 Maters Title­ Murray isnt­ the best player at the moment. His game is­ not good­ enough to win Grand Slams, way to passive."
    LOL,­ his game is the same everywhere! He only plays­ tennis.

    WAY too many retards on here.

    From Hans G, on Sat 22 Aug 3:45AM

  10. For someone who has followed tennis for so many years,­ Simon makes some ignorant statements. First of all,­ don't count Nadal out. He won the Australian Open­ and Indian Wells a few months ago and he is playing­ well again. He was undoubtedly the best player in the­ world before his injury so a healthy Nadal has a way­ better chance than Roddick at the Open. As for Murray I­ guess that's exactly what you said before the­ Australian Open and guess what? 4th round exit in the­ biggest hardcourt event of the year so far. The way you­ overrate Murray, a 0 times Slam champion is truly­ annoying. Both Nadal and Federer have achieved more­ than him this year.

    From Juan Manuel, on Sat 22 Aug 2:12AM

  11. how could someone be the 'true' number one if­ he doesn't have any grand slam title yet...the­ problem with people esp you brits is you dream big and­ you end up always disappointed...sad but true...

    From maryjane m, on Sat 22 Aug 1:51AM

  12. SO when all was said and done. Reed. If you have any­ integrity whatsoever. What do you think about the fact­ that Murray sometimes says 'come on!' after his­ opponent double faults?

    From Csaba, on Sat 22 Aug 12:33AM

  13. "I still think he was handed both those titles,­ and while it's not impossible that he will pull off­ another win at the US Open, it's hard to see it­ happening."

    Geez dude!!! He was handed those­ titles!!!!! Did you even watch the Wimbledon final?!?!­ The longest final in Wimbledon history and Roger only­ broke Roddick's serve once in the entire match and­ yet he was 'handed the title". Give me a­ break!!! Nadal went through a classic case of­ succumbing to the pressure of trying to break­ Borg's long standing record at the French Open.­ Elena Dementieva called it right when she said he­ (Nadal) did not seem like he was enjoying himself at­ the FO, despite winning his early matches so easy and­ comprehensible.

    I remember watching him play and it­ was so obvious that Rafa was feeling the pressure of­ that moment big time throughout the tournament. He­ would step on the court and win easily and yet he­ seemed unhappy - almost like he just could not wait for­ this tournament to be over with so he can breathe­ again.

    You can't blame Roger for this. The fact­ is when everyone had counted Roger for out and down, he­ came back and won Madrid, Roland Garros and Wimbledon.­

    For those who claim it was Rafa's absence that­ aided Roger to these titles - answer me this - what­ does it say about the state of men's tennis that it­ takes a player like Rafa to be out of the game before­ the other top players can stake their dominance!!!­ People rate the men's game up soo much over the­ womens and yet here we have a case where people claim­ that Roger only won those two GS because Rafa was not­ there... Doesn’t that imply that it takes the absence­ of a top player before the other top guys can really­ show their dominance? Why can’t they all just be able­ to compete against each other and then show off how­ great they are? Why does it take the absence of one­ player before they can prove their alleged­ greatness?

    Give me a break people. The men's

    From *~*Kennedy*~*, on Sat 22 Aug 12:05AM

  14. Reed ithink you are loosing it, saying Murray is a true­ number one! find a job please..Murray is the most­ boring player to watch

    From Jaz, on Fri 21 Aug 11:58PM

  15. Murray is not going to win cincinnati, lte alone the US­ open.......what a joker. tennis has been a laughing­ stock bcoz players like Murray and safina continue to­ top charts without grandslams.......while other players­ achievements and wins are under-estimated....Reed­ should be fired.

    From Immac Reno, on Fri 21 Aug 11:42PM

  16. Would someone please force-retire this Reed guy? He­ will have to eat his words once the winner's­ trophy is lifted at the USOpen. Murray is far away­ from winning a GS and Reed and Mac - having watched the­ tennis scene for decades now - should think before they­ speak.....

    From hsinghmal, on Fri 21 Aug 11:21PM

  17. buaaahhhaaah... are kidding reed.. federer is the king­ of grandslams.. i dont like murray's personality­ he's not downhearted.

    From ronaldee, on Fri 21 Aug 11:21PM

  18. Reed talking @#$% as usual, what a loser!!!!

    From Non, on Fri 21 Aug 11:19PM

  19. What a bunch of lies, unobjective biased blabbing...

    From Danilo, on Fri 21 Aug 11:18PM

  20. While Murray might be able to win a grand slam­ tournament at some point in the near future, this kind­ of argumentation as used by Mr. Reed is not much more­ than either chauvinism or "hopeful thinking".­ Is Mr. Reed actually faulting the best players on the­ men and women side for concentrating on those­ tournament that really matter (the four grand slam­ tournaments)? It seems. A very strange way of arguing a­ cause.

    From Markus Breitschmid, on Fri 21 Aug 11:17PM
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