Certain things ensure a unique character for this season of men's Tennis. While Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal these two titans whose era of dominance was thought to be over did some extraordinary things that led to their resurrection other ATP tennis stars like Andy Murray or Novak Djokovic somehow failed to keep their heads above the water. If Djokovic's fall from the stratosphere was expected after an extended dominance over the ATP professional circuit, in Murray's case the issues were not that easy to predict.
After reaching the first spot in the ranking for the first time in the ending weeks of 2016, Andy Murray was expected to cement the new status in the first part of 2017.
The unfolding of the first four months of 2017 delivered an unexpected result having the world no. One scrambling to find his pace.
For Andy Murray, the window of opportunity is already gone
By taking a short glance at the ranking, his top seat may appear to be in a safe zone, but the margin for error is rather thin. Back in 2016, the first four months of the season were not that great for him regarding results with the Australian Open runner-up status as the sole big finish. The compass had a twist starting from Madrid and things started to make sense for Murray once he won Wimbledon and Djokovic ended up being eliminated in the first stages. That means that the current world no. 1 could have gathered some extra points up until now, but his game of tennis was merely a shadow of what he used to deliver on a regular basis.
It's a well-known trap that Murray is caught up within, a false sense of self-sufficiency preventing him to dig deeper into the reservoir of worth using solutions. As he admitted, the pressure of being the world no. 1 is something a player cannot understand unless he is there in that unique posture.
The attitude while on the tennis court suffered some changes
During his latest performance on the professional tour, Andy Murray seemed quite distracted. He faced Dominic Thiem in Barcelona's semis, and despite winning the second set, he wasn't able to shift momentum toward his side. Usually, he is a guy that puts so much pressure on himself.
It's that type of athlete that always seems unhappy with what he produces and always willing to improve.
In Barcelona, his on-court attitude was totally different having Murray kept on laughing at his coaching box. That's not the same player that cruised past every opponent last autumn. One of the best ways to assess his results in 2017 is to point out that he hasn't won a title this season.
