Why Andy Murray Will Walk Away with His First Grand Slam in 2012

Andy Murray.

He's currently one of the top players in the world and always a genuine threat in tournaments. He's got a great ground game and a fighting spirit that never allows him to give up on a point.

What he doesn't have is a Grand Slam next to his name.

And doesn't he know it.

It seems that in every tennis major, Murray is described as the bridesmaid of men's tennis—always at the wedding, but never the one getting married. He's always there, but not the one holding high the trophy at the end of the two-week tournament.

This will be the year that Andy Murray breaks through for his maiden Grand Slam win.

It's not a joke; it's not for a laugh—the British hopeful will finally be the one to get married.

In reality, there's little doubt that Murray does indeed have the game and ability to take out a Grand Slam for he shows it time and time again during the year.

Murray won the opening tournament of the year at the Brisbane Intrernational with a straight sets win over Alexandr Dolgopolov and almost broke through for his maiden major at the Australian Open later that month. Murray was involved in an epic five-set encounter with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who took the final set 7-5 to end the Brit's title chances.

Murray also has two other final appearances to his name this year—ATP events at Miami and Dubai. Notably, in both of those tournaments, Murray beat several players ranked in the top 10 in the world, including Janko Tipsarevic, Tomas Berdych, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic.

Murray may not have won the Australian Open like Djokovic or the multiple tournaments this year like Roger Federer, but statistically speaking, he has the skills and abilities to beat the top three in the world.

To beat one of the three, Murray needs to be strong in returning the ball so that he can break their serve. All three are so strong that a dominant serve will not be enough to win; the returning skills must be there.

Across the entire ATP circuit, Murray currently ranks eighth in points won returning first serve and second in points won returning second serve. This culminates in the Brit being ranked third in returning games won—a position higher than both Djokovic and Federer.

For Murray to break through and win his maiden Grand Slam, he'll need to be able to match it with the best. In 2012, he's proven that he has the skills and depth of game to do so.

Also in the corner of the world No. 4 is legendary player and now coach Ivan Lendl, who will be of huge assistance to Murray throughout the year.

Known for his mental toughness and imposing style of play, Lendl himself only won his first Grand Slam at age 25—the same age as Murray—and went on to win eight of tennis' most prestigious tournaments. 

Murray speaks of the ease and mental relief that comes from having Lendl as coach, commenting that:

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"When I look to the box and see him [Lendl] there I feel much calmer. At the Australian Open, I felt pretty relaxed for most of the tournament..."

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For many, Murray's mental determination and composure remains his biggest obstacle to his chances at winning a tennis major. The technical ability is there and he can take games and sets off the best players in the world but he lacks the composure and level head to carry it through.

The pressure, it seemed, would get to Murray and he would fall at the final hurdle.

However, the pressure that's supposed to be solely heaped on Murray's shoulders is now starting to fall the way of his other three main rivals. Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have all received their fair share of criticisms in 2012 and would also be feeling the same pressure as Murray does.

Djokovic has the pressure that comes with being world No. 1—he is expected to win every tournament he enters and is expected to finish up holding the trophy at the end of Grand Slams. His health is supposed to be superior; his ground game is supposed to be superior. 

The same can be said for Nadal, who enters the upcoming French Open with more expectation than any other player during the year. The Spainard isn't expected to lose the tournament, and thus the pressure to succeed continues to surround Nadal.

As for Federer, well, he's starting to get old and the pressure on him is to continue to perform to his best. If the Swiss maestro wants to consider himself still one of the best tennis players in the world, then he must succeed in every single tournament that he enters.

And so by the time it comes around to Murray, most of the pressure has already been dished out to the three players considered better than he is.

For Murray isn't expected to win the tournament, nor is he actually expected to dominate his rivals during Grand Slams. The mountain of pressure that's supposedly on his shoulders is, in reality, distributed across the shoulders of the world's three best players.

He doesn't have the same expectations placed on him as others do, and as a result he doesn't have the same levels of pressure riding on every break point he plays or every overhead smash that he attempts.

The absence of pressure doesn't mean that the criticisms aren't the same, however, with Murray the first to attest to the comments and negative words said to his lack of success at the big tournaments.

From the newspapers and their scathing comments to the online blogs and the millions of people quick to ridicule him every time he stumbles, Murray knows the criticism exists.

And he knows it's aimed straight at him.

Murray just takes it in his stride and continues to aim to play good, consistent tennis. 

He knows that he is good enough to win, having beaten all of the sport's greatest players, and he knows that he can break through for his maiden Grand Slam.

He isn't the only one either, with arguably the greatest player in the modern era—Roger Federer—giving Murray the highest of compliments, telling Metro Sport:

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"Andy is as close as you can get to winning a Grand Slam—there's nothing missing from his game."

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And so, despite the jokes at his expense and the reputation he has of being tennis' bridesmaid, Murray truly believes he has what it takes to win a Grand Slam:

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"I believe I’ll get there. I’ve learned a lot, especially in the last few months, about my game, about my mindset and what I’m going to need to do to get past Roger, Rafa and Novak in the rankings... I’m more professional than ever..."

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He has the ability to match it with the best in the world, as shown through his strong returning numbers and results in 2012. He has the mental tenacity required to deal with pressure and criticism that comes with his major-less career.

If the greatest players in the world consider Murray a real chance at winning a Grand Slam, then I have no hesitation to state the same—that Murray is a genuine threat.

And 2012 will be the year when that genuine threat turns in to a Grand Slam champion.

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