Talk Tennis Blog

Andy Murray signs deal with 19 Entertainment

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:17:24 GMT

The famous management company which is currently responsible for sport stars including David Beckham has penned a deal with Andy Murray. 19 Entertainment is owned by Simon Fuller, the man responsible for the Spice Girls. The management company will look after the interests of the player both on the court and away from it.

After the deal was agreed, Fuller revealed that he was “very excited to be working” with the young British tennis star. Andy Murray is currently under the management of Ace Group but this contract will expire early in March. Murray has also penned a deal with CAA Sports, which will represent him in America. CAA Sports has experience of representing top tennis stars, with Novak Djokovic currently on its books.

Andy Murray’s brother, Jamie, who is best known for his exploits in the Wimbledon mixed doubles event, has signed the same deal. Fuller believes that the “innovative partnership” which currently exists between CAA Sports and 19 Entertainment will provide “global support” for the young pair. Andy Murray has shared the excitement of Fuller, revealing that it is a “fantastic opportunity”.

Hopes are high that Andy Murray will win a Grand Slam this year and the support offered by 19 Entertainment and CAA Sports will allow him to focus purely upon improving his game. Although the British tennis star’s profile has been steadily rising since he reached the final of the US Open last year, he has remained focused and professional, showing a maturity which belies his tender age of 21.

Murray warms up in style

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:34:45 GMT

Andy Murray has warmed up in style for the upcoming tennis season with victory in the exhibition event in Abu Dhabi. Murray’s victorious run in the tournament included yet another victory over Roger Federer.

The Scot beat the tennis legend in convincing style and came up against Rafael Nadal in the final. Murray beat Nadal 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to collect the prize money of $250,000. The confidence boost which will result from these two victories will be of great benefit to the tennis player, who has been tipped by many to win a Grand Slam title in the near future.

Murray’s first real challenge of the season will come later this month at the Australian Open, although he will have another chance to hone his already impressive skills before this tournament at the Qatar Open. Nadal and Federer are also attending this event in Doha and will undoubtedly be hoping for more success.

Nadal believes that Andy Murray “has a good chance to win in Australia”, something which Murray has revealed he is aiming for, and was also keen to congratulate him on his win. Furthermore, Nadal revealed that he personally played a “very good match” but was simply outclassed by the young Scot.

Murray was in impressive form against the Spanish player and should have finished the match sooner than he did. All in all, early performances from the Scot bode well for the major tournaments of 2009 and have simply added to the hype surrounding the talented youngster.

Murray ready for Grand Slam victory

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:49:36 GMT

Andy Murray has spoken out about his successful year in the world of tennis, despite recently missing out on the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

The player believes that he is coming close to winning a Grand Slam, an achievement which has always been a dream for the Scottish youngster. Andy Murray is still only twenty-one years of age but has climbed the world rankings this year to reach the lofty position of number four.

Reaching the US Open final was a highlight of his year and, although he was defeated by Roger Federer, his impressive run in the tournament proved to his many fans that he is capable of winning a Grand Slam in the near future. Murray stated that he did not believe he was able to win a major title until he came so close to victory in the USA.

The confidence that Murray, who has been working with a new coach since the latter stages of last year, has gained from his impressive season has given him the motivation to “work hard this off-season”.

He believes that putting in that extra effort in the short-term will give him the best chance of winning a Grand Slam next year. The player recognised that achieving this ambitious goal will be “very hard” but he is determined to give it his “best shot”.

Although Murray’s year has been filled with high points, the player was keen to discuss the low points as well. One such disappointment came at the Beijing Olympic Games, where Murray crashed out in the first round.

He has since blamed this failure on unprofessional behaviour during the build-up to the tournament. Despite this minor setback last summer, Murray’s growing confidence and self-belief should set off alarm bells in the minds of all his competitors.

Sampras speaks out about tennis stars

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 09:07:13 GMT

It’s been a fantastic year for Andy Murray, the rising star of British tennis. He has managed to reach the final of the US Open and he now stands at number four in the world rankings.

Murray may have thought that his year could not be made any better. However, he has now received the backing of Pete Sampras, a true legend in the world of tennis.

Critics of Andy Murray believe that he does not have the ability and natural talent to match the likes of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. However, whilst Sampras agrees that Murray is “one notch below” these two players, he feels he is “on the edge of breaking through”.

Furthermore, Sampras believes that the young Brit is set to win a major title in the very near future. If anyone can be trusted on the subject of tennis, it is surely Pete Sampras. During an extremely successful career, the player won fourteen Grand Slam titles and was a popular character with tennis fans all over the world.

Confidence was one thing that Sampras was not short of on the tennis court and the legend believes that Andy Murray needs to increase his level of self-belief if he is to succeed quickly. Sampras thought, whilst watching the US Open final, that Murray was lacking the self-belief that he could win and this proved detrimental to his game.

Whilst the American was keen to praise Murray, he cast doubts over the long-term success of Nadal. Nadal won the Wimbledon title this year at the expense of Federer, who had not lost on grass since 2002. However, Sampras believes that Nadal will not prove a serious threat to Roger Federer for too long, since it “takes a lot less energy" for Federer to “stay on top”.

Stefanki teams up with Andy Roddick

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:58:45 GMT

Andy Roddick has announced that he will receive the coaching services of Larry Stefanki before the start of the 2009 tennis season.

Roddick, who is twenty-six years of age, ended this season ranked number eight in the world but he has endured a slightly disappointing season, which culminated in a forced withdrawal from the Masters Cup as a result of an unfortunate ankle injury.

On the brighter side, he did manage to reach the quarter-final stages of the US Open earlier this year but the American tennis player is now looking forward to teaming up with fellow American, Larry Stefanki.

Stefanki has previously coached the legendary tennis player, John McEnroe, as well as British tennis favourite, Tim Henman. He was recently employed by Fernando Gonzalez and, in the past, he managed to guide Yevgeny Kafelnikov to the top of the world rankings.

Although he played tennis professionally for several years before becoming a coach, he only reached a top ranking of thirty fifth in the world and Stefanki did not really start to make a name for himself until he entered the world of coaching.

Until relatively recently, Andy Roddick was being coached by Jimmy Connors. The famous pair started working together in the summer of 2006 but decided to split earlier in the tennis season. The American player is hoping that teaming up with such a legend in the world of coaching will spur him on to another impressive Grand Slam win at some point during the 2009 tennis season.

Djokovic beats Davydenko to win in Shanghai

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:36:42 GMT

For British fans of Andy Murray, who was knocked out of the Masters Cup by Nikolay Davydenko in the semi-finals, the final of the competition may have held little excitement.

The final saw Davydenko meet Novak Djokovic, who had shown mixed form throughout the tournament and was perhaps lucky to be in the final. However, in reality the match was a thrilling one and was ultimately dominated by the Serb, who was also successful in the Australian Open earlier this year.

Djokovic won the match 6-1, 7-5, and his performance was a far cry from the ones seen in last year’s competition. In the 2007 Masters Cup, Djokovic lost all his matches and paled into insignificance in the face of tougher competition.

This year though, the Serb, who is still only twenty-one years of age, was truly ecstatic after the final point was played. He revealed that the victory is a “great achievement” and he also believes the event is on a par with a Grand Slam tournament, since the best eight tennis players compete against each other for glory.

The forehand which had proved to be lethal in the Australian Open was once again on show for Djokovic, and Davydenko was simply unable to cope with its power and accuracy. Davydenko remained rooted to the baseline for large parts of the match and seemed unable to hit with any accuracy from this point on the court.

This remained the pattern of the match throughout the opening set and it certainly seemed as if Davydenko was going to be taught a lesson in powerful tennis during the second set as well.

However, he eventually managed to find some kind of form and Djokovic started to become visibly nervous. Davydenko did enough to bring the score to 5-5, but a series of unforced errors handed the advantage to the Serb once again. Djokovic took full advantage of the opportunity to win the match and claim an impressive title.