“Wait, you like that show?”
“Uh, I’ve watched an episode or two. Maybe a couple more. What’s not to love about a fat deliveryman who lives with an unrealistically attractive wife and her dingbat father . . . ”
Oh, hi! Sorry, didn’t see you there. Now you know my guiltiest TV pleasure, The King of Queens. (Actually, to be completely honest, the honor has to go to Married with Children. When you suddenly realize, after 15 minutes, that you're sitting through an episode of that show for a third time, you know something has gone terribly wrong.)
Anyway, I couldn’t think of a more suitable headline for this weekend’s most notable tennis event, in which Andy Murray became the first man from the U.K. in 71 years to win at Queen’s Club, and in the process set off an entirely predictable maelstrom of media speculation in that country about his chances next week at Wimbledon. More on those chances in a little bit.
The other headline option I was considering was “Jailbreak.” That’s what the early days of the criminally abbreviated grass-court season always look like to me. Suddenly the players, knowing that this surface is the friend of the shot-maker, feel free to try things they would have never tried when they were in survival mode over the last two months on clay. In the final on Sunday, James Blake took a forehand from behind the baseline, hit it inside-out and very deep to Murray's backhand corner, and sprinted all the way to the net, where he won the point with a neat and simple sharp-angle drop volley—it looked like he could have used that play any time he wanted. On the other side of the net, Murray routinely took his backhand return in the deuce court, hit it inside-out to his opponent’s forehand, and dared him to go up the line and into the open court. When he did, Murray was there to crack a two-hander crosscourt for a winner. Think of it as the backhand version of Pete Sampras’ trademark running forehand; like Sampras, Murray lured the other guy into hitting into his strength and turned the tables immediately. If clay tests the solidity of a player’s entire game over a long period of time—there’s no hiding a weakness—grass tests his creativity at rapidly steering a point toward his strengths.
What does this win mean for Murray? Without Roger, Rafa, or Novak in the draw at Queen’s, any speculation about the near future has to be highly circumscribed. While the Scot didn’t drop a set, he also didn’t face a player ranked in the Top 15. Nevertheless, he was in control at all times. Blake and Ferrero, who Murray beat in the semis, are past their primes, but Murray made them look like positive has-beens. Particularly Ferrero, whom he beat at will.
Murray isn’t going to do this to anyone who’s still hanging around during the second week at Wimbledon. But it does signify that he’s playing from a place of strength on grass now. To do that, you must be able to win with your serve, to use it to get you out of jams. Murray's serve typically got him into jams in the past; it was his return that bailed him out. But Murray showed a new poise in the final. More than once, he got down early on his serve and pulled himself back to level terms with an unreturnable. More impressive was his second ball. Serving at 2-3, 0-15 in the second set, he went for a semi-risky hook second serve into Blake’s forehand. It had to be good, or Blake was going to unload on it. It was very good, a parabolic slice with more action on it than I’ve ever seen from a Murray serve. Blake was thrown off and lost the point. This mix, of a newly learned skill with the willingness to go for more than usual at a crucial stage, makes me believe that Murray is still trying to grow his game. He’s still trying to expand it outwards and do what he thinks will get him better tomorrow, even if it risks losing him a match today. This quality is less common in established pros than it should be.
Murray’s game as it is now can win him Wimbledon. At Queen’s, he dictated with his backhand to the point where it began to look like a two-handed forehand—when he has time, his crosscourt kill shot is going to be devastating at the All England Club. So will his defense. Most players can be wrong-footed on slippery grass, but it’s not easy to do to Murray. What he may lack in raw speed he more than makes up for in body control. Early in the second set, Blake put the ball on Murray's baseline three times in one point and still lost it. Then, serving at 3-3, 30-30, Blake moved to the net behind a highly acceptable, if not utterly perfect, forehand approach—he had the velocity, but it landed just a hair closer to the service line than he may have wanted it. Still, in the old days it would have been more than good enough to do the job. Not anymore, not against Murray, who gathered himself in plenty of time to snap a forcing crosscourt pass, in the opposite the direction in which his body was moving. He won the point and went on to break. The match was essentially over. If that passing shot demonstrates anything, it’s that Murray makes his opponents hit closer to the lines to beat him than just about anyone else.
Still, the vulnerabilities remain. While he didn’t need to use his superb volleying skills as much as he could have at Queen’s, Murray also didn’t go out of his way to get up to the net. He has an advantage there over most guys, and he’ll need to use it against the top players at Wimbledon. Also, Murray has been deadly in two-out-of-three sets, but not so much in three-out-of-five, when an erratic but powerful player—like a Verdasco or a Gonzalez—has time to find his game, lose it, and then find it again.
Those losses, in Melbourne and Paris, came on slower surfaces. How will Murray keep the bashers at bay on the slicker grass? Is speed and defense really a substitute for a killer forehand? This, after all, is the shot that has made Federer and Nadal the current rulers of All England. To win on Centre Court, the most expansive of all playing surfaces, and to beat those two guys over the course of three sets, Murray will have to push the boundaries of his game farther than he ever has. Is ready to pull it off? A fortnight is just two weeks, but it can be a long time in the life of a creative and determined tennis player.
How's this for a prediction? Murray debuted a white Fred Perry sweater today, which will be part of his special clothing "kit" at Wimbledon. It looks suspiciously like a certain Cardigan we saw around the grounds last year. That sweater didn't bring its wearer a championship, but it got him pretty darn close.