Andy Murray suffered again to get the victory as he sailed for another five-set match in his 2016 French Open second round clash against 22-year-old wild card Mathias Bourgue.
The match started out as a usual Grand Slam second round; the second seed was up 6-2, 2-0 against an “unknown” French wildcard and commentators were already rushing to give fans the insight of Murray’s third round match.
Andy Murray Needs to Stop Playing with Fire
But, with Marin Cilic losing to Argentinian qualifier Marco Trungelliti in the first round, and the French Open historically known for big upsets, thanks to the physically and mentally demanding clay court strategies, the outcome of this match, even though Murray was able to succeed, did not catch me off guard.
Murray had already struggled immensely against 37-year-old Radek Stepanek in his 2016 French Open debut, where many just believed it was a wild bump in the road.
But there is a pattern in Murray’s tactical approach that is hindering his performance when playing against an underdog. It’s a situation he must quickly tackle alongside newly appointed head coach Jamie Delgado.
Instead of the Scot focusing on using his powerful strokes to overrun his opponents, Murray has recently opted the path of slow-cooking his “weaker” enemies.
The Brit dims down his rally speed while mixing it up with excelled targeting direction, setting his goal on wearing down his prey who will eventually commit the unforced error.
It’s not an unreasonable strategy, considering how difficult it is to overcome Murray in a long rally, especially in a long Grand Slam match, but for a World #2 to be waiting for an opponent to miss, it’s utterly conservative and is causing Murray a lot of trouble during the early rounds.
The main difference that separates players in the professional rankings (let’s only talk tennis wise) is their rally speed.
For example, a player ranked 300 in the world would have the same amount of consistency as Murray, Novak Djokovic, or Roger Federer. But, the discrepancy is that the average ball speed of Murray sits at 69.8 MPH, Federer’s at 75.8 MPH and Djokovic 78.2 MPH, while the less talented players will be hitting with up to 30% less power.
It’s simple; top players are going to hit the same ten balls in a rally, but what makes them so good is that they completely crush the ball every time they hit.
So, against the World’s #165, Murray opted for his slow-cooking method and took at least 20% of the power off his rally speed, which produced limited damage against the young gun.
Bourgue, who was playing his first career five-set match, took the advantage and while playing with nothing to lose in front of a home crowd, the 22-year-old was able to smack the ball relentlessly, allowing him to go on an eight-game streak which earned him the second set 6-2 and also ended up winning the third set 6-4.
Murray again found himself clawing his way back from a 2-1 set deficit for the second time in two matches.
However, he didn’t seem to lose his cool and won the fourth 6-2. Deep inside his head, Murray knew that in the long run he would wear down the inspired 22-year-old, who was going into a fifth set for the first time in his career.
It’s frustrating to see Murray waiting on his opponents failure after the Rome final where he crushed the ball against Djokovic.
Nonetheless, the outcome came as expected; Murray claimed the fifth 6-3 over a young Bourgue, who could not maintain his effectiveness, mostly due to his lack of experience in long matches while running out of fuel to outlast the Scot physically and mentally.
But, the damage is done. Two five sets in his first two matches on clay, give an advantage to other contenders that for sure will not take for granted any minute they can get to be in their hotel suites and far away from the heavy Roland Garros clay courts during the first stages of the tournament.
In his third round, Murray plays veteran Ivo Karlovic; he should be able to avoid a long match to get a much-needed rest if he wants to keep his chances alive on winning his first French Open championship.
However, if Murray continues to play with fire and keeps giving players the opportunity to grind out long matches as he gives them chance to take the initiative while he chooses to play timid and forgiving, an “unexpected” early exit from the Parisian courts will not be all that surprising.
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