Hail Murray

"...the career of Andy Murray has just begun and based upon what I have seen he could well be basically anything he wants to be; his shot-making abilities are phenomenal. ......I have every confidence he will be going head-to-head with the very best for the next decade." (New York Addick, Sep 2006)

The shot-making abilities that I identified two years ago, are now aligned with exceptional speed and deep reserves of stamina. As a result, we have a truly world-class sportsman to be proud of, and his finest moment has just occurred in a stadium visible from my building's rooftop.

Those who continue to bemoan his alleged anti-English sentiments really need to get a life; his hardly earth-shattering comments after all were meant as a joke, and were made whilst he was a opinionated teenager.

He's one of ours, a damned talented sportsman and for once has the killer instinct that we've been crying out for. Just deal with it, just like you did when Chris Hoy (birthplace: Edinburgh) brought home three golds from Beijing.

The scoreline suggests that the match against Nadal was considerably closer than it really was. In truth, Murray dominated from start to finish, generating an incredible number of break points, and never allowed the Spaniard to play from the front foot (as he had done in great style at Wimbledon).

Tennis purists meanwhile, regardless of their patriotism, can surely simply enjoy watching one of the most naturally gifted players of a generation. In a game that is so often dominated (ruined) by big servers with zero panache like Andy Roddick, we can now witness a Grand Slam finalist whose most potent weapon is arguably his drop shot.

When rallying from the baseline meanwhile, Murray demonstrates the type of variety which can unnerve even the likes of Nadal, eking out unforced errors by preventing opponents from attaining a rhythm.

With the inevitably dull women's final about to start, it's just a shame that no-one in their game (at least since Henin retired), has realised that there are other ways to win than merely walloping the ball from both flanks.

Luckily thanks to the talented likes of Murray, but also Djokovic, Gasquet, and Ferrer amongst others, men's tennis is currently as interesting as it has ever been. Keep a long-term eye out too for 18-year old Japanese player Kei Nishikori, as talented a prospect as Murray.

It is appropriate that Andy Murray's attire is adorned with the name of the last Brit to win a Grand Slam, Fred Perry in 1936. With many fans hoping for a Nadal/Federer final, combined with the odd 5pm start on a Monday, plenty of re-sale tickets are available for the final. It's highly tempting despite the lofty asking prices, although I intend to wait until at least lunchtime incase any cheeky free corporate tickets miraculously find their way to me.

As the rain poured down here on Saturday night, it was curious to investigate the odds on both the rest of the Nadal/Murray match, and the overall men's singles. Murray was considered a 4/6 favourite (not surprising given his two-set lead), but Nadal was still considered a more likely overall winner than Murray was. This reflected of course the belief (incorrect in my view) that Federer would far sooner face Murray than Nadal.

Despite having only played each other three times, Murray has a 2-1 win/loss record over the amazing Swiss, and with Nadal having brought Federer's 5-year winning streak to an end at Wimbledon, it'd be a brave man to bet against Murray's momentum ending his 4-year streak at Flushing Meadow.