By Mike McIntyre
Andy Murray defeated Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-2 in the championship match in Qatar. He remains undefeated in 2009 in both exhibition and regular tournament play. While early season success does not automatically equate to a deep run at the Australian Open later this month, it puts Murray in the unfamiliar position of being considered the favorite by many tennis fans. How he handles that pressure remains to be seen. He will also have to deal with best of five set matches which will put more physical strain on him.
After the match Roddick seemed to think Murray is capable of Grand Slam success when he said, "He’s in top form right now, I think he is capable of winning the big ones.”
One of Roddick's other comments made me much less confident of the American's chances to win another Grand Slam.
“I made him beat me,” Roddick said. “I didn’t give it away so easily. It was a successful week for me.”
If getting beat handily in the finals equals a successful week, then I'm afraid Roddick perhaps no longer feels he has the ability to take a second Grand Slam title. It's not like he knocked off any big names en route to the final. Is getting beaten by the Federer's, Nadal's and Murray's of the world the best Roddick can hope for? Has he lost the belief that he can still contend with them for the majors?
As for Murray, he seems to feel he still isn't playing his best tennis.
“I am not close to my best tennis,” Murray said. “I need to do what I did at Wimbledon and the U.S Open last year. But if I play my best tennis, then I can beat the top players.”
Just over a week to go before we see who will be playing their best tennis when it matters the most.
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