Andy Murray
Andy Murray might have played his last match against Roberto Bautista Agut at the Australian Open. He lost the match in 5 sets. I’ll remember him charging towards the net (shouting in pain) and somehow managing to put the ball back in before it bounces twice, his calm way of snubbing the reporter who asked a silly question in the post match interview, his voice for gender equality in Tennis, his super funny Instagram stories and ofcourse beating Novak Djokovic at the World Tour Finals to finish 2016 as the World #1.
For the most part of his career, he was compared with the Big 3 - Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. When compared, he’s had an awful career - he has lost his first 4 Grand Slam finals (3 to Federer and 1 to Djokovic), never won an Australian Open but lost 5 Finals and was hardly the #1 ranked player (except towards the end of his career). He didn’t have the flair of Federer, the top-spin of Nadal and the flexibility of Djokovic. While the big 3 all tasted success with multiple career titles early in their careers, Andy had to continuously fight for the most of his careers. Naturally, there’s plenty to learn from his career. Here are my 3 lessons -
- Maximizing your potential by giving everything you’ve got every single time. Murray is probably the best example of maximizing potential given talent.
- Believe in yourself and keep pushing despite the initial losses. Don’t expect a fairytale finish.
- Understand your strengths and weakness. Don’t compare yourself with the people around you. Don’t get jealous or frustrated when the people around you succeed.
Don’t compare yourself with other people. Don’t get jealous or frustrated when the people around you succeed.
If you don’t compare his career with the Big 3 and read it by merit, he’s had an amazing career -
- 2 Wimbledon titles (the first British in 77 years to win Wimbledon).
- 2 Olympic Singles Gold Medal.
- Year end World No. 1.
- US Open Champion.
- Consistently ranked in the top 4 for the most part of his career.
I sincerely hope that he’d be able to recover from his surgery and play his final match at Wimbledon this year. If not, it is yet another reminder that fairytale endings are rare and he’d be proud to have played his final match the only way he knows - by giving everything he’s got!
Kaushik Rangadurai
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