Suddenly men's tennis appears to be at a transitional stage. Djokovic will finish the year as the world's no.1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/20127315 but really he does not appear to be head and shoulders above the others IMO. This year the title could have gone to Andy Murray who has had his best year ever, Federer and but for prolonged injury Nadal would also be a contender. Andy Murray has peaked at just the right time, with Nadal injured, Federer past his best and Djokovic inconsistant. Who would have expected this scenario at the beginning of the year?
So did I. I don't know if his win at the US has made him complacent or over confident. Once the end of season Masters is out of the way I think Lendl will need to do even more work on the mental side of Andy's game. I'm doing it. I'm making a prediction: Andy to win the Australian and Wimbledon.
I have Andy pegged for the AO too. Not sure about Wimbledon though - always too much pressure from the media on that one. I am a little disappointed with Andy's recent losses in Asia and of course Paris - especially since he was at match point in the Tokyo/Shanghai matches. However, Andy has always struck me as a 1-step-back 2-steps-forward player. Until Wimbledon this year the appointment of Lendl only seemed to have made him worse - judging by match results - but then he had that cracking Olympics and US Open and it all came into place. Getting over the first slam hurdle will undoubtedly help Andy for next season but I think he must have been a little deflated/burnt out for the end of this season. A good break should set him up nicely for next year. Andy and a fully fit Nadal must be good shouts for stints at number 1 next season. Andy has few points to defend between the AO and Wimbledon and Nadal has none afte Wimbledon.
