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Was Llodra to Good or Murray too Bad? |
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Written by Saspcruz
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Watching yesterday’s match between Michael Llodra and Andy Murray at the US Open 2008, I could not stop myself from thinking about John McEnroe who was also a left handed player with a keen serve and volley game.
There is always the talk about how much better the game of tennis is today and how much everything has improved, but a player like Llodra playing the - old fashion - serve and volley game all out attack against the present Nr.4 in the world, left the court and the minds of the spectators with many question marks on how much has tennis really improved?
To put this it into perspective, we have to realize that Andy Murray is the Nr. 4 in the ATP rankings and has beaten players like Roger Federer, Novack Djokovic and has played very close against Rafael Nadal, in other words a potential challenger to the Nr. 1 spot.
Llodra a talented lefty with a good serve and volley game but, that would pale by comparison to John McEnroe’s game, specifically in all areas of:
- Movement
- Tactics
- Stroke production
- Service power, accuracy and disguise
- Volleys
- Mental
- Etc….
Nevertheless Michael Llodra demonstrated how fragile Murray’s mental envelope is, on the other hand also showed that the 4th set should have been his and only God knows what would have happened in the fifth set, with the arrogant Scott ever more negative!
Now what would a John McEnroe at his best have done to Andy Murray? Without a single moment of hesitation, game set and match John McEnroe 6/3 6/2 6/4!
This does not end here, it also puts into question Roger Federer’s 237 weeks at the top of the world rankings. Would that have been so in the John McEnroe era or even closer to this period in Pete Sampras era? Certainly not, Roger would have been a great player but, he would not come close to the dominance he enjoyed between 2004 and 2007 he would have had to either humble down, work harder and show it on the court or lose.
As recent has April this year John McEnroe humbled Pete Sampras and Jim Courier on a senior tour event by beating both in sequence. Now keep in mind that Pete Sampras had come from seriously challenging Roger Federer in some exibition matches and that both Pete and Jim are at least 10 years younger than John!
What does this all mean? Nothing, just history!
Sergio Cruz
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