Andy Murray Aiming to End Fantastic Year with a Flourish

Now then, it’s my first tennis blog on the site, at the risk of sounding boring and predictable, I'm going to talk about Britain's Andy Murray.

Yes, I know, it's a subject being done to death right now, as I’m sure British readers will testify to.

Because as much as the British press wouldn't let you believe it, there is more to tennis than Andy Murray.

But after seeing such accomplished performances like the one I just witnessed, it's hard not to get excited about the young Scot, who's seemingly in the form of his life right now.

Roger Federer is one of the greatest players on the tour, and arguably one of the greatest players to play the game. Say what you like about Federer’s "decline", if you can even call it that, but the man can still deliver when it matters.

And with the world No. 2 needing a win to seal qualification to the Masters Cup semi-finals, this certainly mattered.

But it mattered to Murray too, because losing is an option he refuses to contemplate these days. Sensing the opportunity to knock Federer out of the tournament altogether, the young Scot duly delivered, winning 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5.

Surprised? Not really, and that’s the scary thing. We now expect Murray to trouble the likes of Federer and Nadal, and that shows how far the young man has come in such a short space of time.

It's been a year where Andy Murray has certainly come of age, in more ways than one. His tennis has improved considerably for sure, with Murray now able to give the big boys problems.

His first serve has improved greatly, and Murray is now more aggressive on the court, able to take the game to anyone.

But more importantly, the petulance and attitude problems that plagued Murray’s game for so long have seemingly disappeared.

And Murray looks all the better for it.

For me, Murray's game turned around at Wimbledon, during the epic five-setter against Richard Gasguet.

It was a match where Murray secured his first quarter-final spot in a Grand Slam, but more importantly, the young man from Dunblane finally seemed to win over the Wimbledon crowd, showing true battling qualities to come from two sets down in what was a thrilling encounter.

He showed maturity beyond his years that fateful day at SW19. The old Murray would have cursed and bemoaned his way towards defeat. But this time, he dug in, kept going, and found a second wind.

And since that win, the new and improved Murray has been in scintillating form.

The world No. 4 has reached the US Open final, won his first two Masters Series titles, and reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals of two other Masters events.

An impressive four months to say the least. But how did this rich run of form come around?

A change in Murray’s coaching set up may be the answer, with Brad Gilbert removed from the set-up. At the time it looked like a gamble, but he now has the right people around him, and he seems fitter, more focused, and a more complete player.

Or maybe this has always been coming, and we shouldn’t be so surprised. A junior US Open victory in 2004 should have opened our eyes to his special talents.

It’s sometimes easy to forget that Murray is just 21, and still has his best years ahead of him. Maybe it's just a case of realised potential at last.

However, Murray simply cannot afford to get complacent in 2009. The parallels with Novak Djokovic’s year could become all too apparent, a year where the young Serbian burst onto the scene with a successful Australian Open victory.

Fast forward to the end of the year, and Djokovic has struggled for form and confidence in what has been a fairly patchy year. Let’s hope Murray doesn’t suffer a similar fate and instead maintains his strong momentum.

Murray has made great strides all year, and a Masters Cup title would top off what has been a tremendous year. But you feel that this is only the beginning for the Scot, and a Grand Slam victory is surely on the horizon.