Murray’s worries for 2011 – or Who can stop Nadal?

Andy Murray has said that he needs to get ‘physically stronger’ and to ‘improve his game’ if he is to challenge world number one Rafael Nadal. That seems a worryingly broad (if honest) prescription for a man who harbours hopes of winning a slam title. I do declare that the Scot must break his slam duck in 2011 or I fancy that his chance will have passed – age will increasingly become an issue with every year that passes, as will a building sense of unfulfilled expectation. Is Murray gradually running out of things he can change as he tries to make the transition to slam winner? Murray does appear to have the credentials to pick up a slam, but he needs to find himself in the right place at the right time and make sure he capitalises. Unfortunately for him, there are a number of reasons why 2011 could be a tough year to make the breakthrough. I offer three:

- Nadal: At the time of writing, odds of 11-1 to 16-1 were being given for Nadal to win all four slam tournaments in 2011. Those are pretty short odds in my book for a feat as great and improbable as the season Grand Slam, reflecting the Spaniard’s exceptional form. Could he pull it off?
- Djokovic: His fine run at the US Open appeared to confirm the Serb as the man most likely to pose a threat to the Nadals and Federers of this world – Djokovic, as things stood at 20 September, was ranked world number 2, one spot above Federer. Murray, ranked 4th, was much further behind Federer in terms of the points-gap than he was ahead of the dangerous Robin Soderling in 5th.
- Del Potro: Let us not forget the injury-hit Argentine. If fit, as one observer not unreasonably puts it, “Juan Martin Del Potro, more than Robin Soderling, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, or Novak Djokovic, is the player on tour that could challenge Rafael Nadal for Slams”.