Milos Raonic likes Andy Warhol, but could learn from Andy Murray's modern exhibitions of (hard) work
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Updated 29/01/2016 at 18:09 GMT
In reaching his fifth Australian Open final and ninth Grand Slam showpiece, Andy Murray continues to provide a glorious example to the rest of tennis about the benefits of dedication in any walk of life, writes Desmond Kane.
Milos Raonic likes Andy Warhol, but Andy Murray provides greater life lesson.
Image credit: Reuters
Milos Raonic had been busy schooling himself on the exhibits of the American artist Andy Warhol before his riveting dash to the Australian Open semi-finals.
Rather than meandering around Melbourne museum, perhaps the considerate, life-pondering Canadian professional should have invested some more of his down time Down Under familiarising himself with the somewhat more modern works of Andy Murray.
If there was anything the 6ft 5in Raonic discovered from his latest towering tennis tête-à-tête with the magnificently uncompromising Scotsman, it is that five-set matches are as much a test of the body, mind and soul as one’s raw talent. And involves much more than dismantling unsuspecting opponents with a serve weighing in at 155mph.
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Highlights: See how Murray made final after epic five-setter against Raonic
If you begin to creak, you begin to leak. In finally succumbing in five enthralling sets when a groin strain started to grip after edging a third set tie-break as tight as a drum, Raonic was left counting a stockpile of 78 unforced errors to Murray’s 28. A huge amount of winnable points handed to the bloke you are sharing a court with. Too many surely to win such a candid contest.
While you might, and probably would have been right, to feel a fair amount of sympathy for the man with the golden sleeve after he was cut down by untimely ailment not long after establishing a 2-1 lead, it is an inescapable truth that joints like Rod Laver Arena have no sympathy for weak joints. Australia remains no country for crocked men. You tend not to win Grand Slams without being pushed to the body's limit. And nor should you expect a stroll in Melbourne Park.
I can be very obsessive when it comes to the process and what I need to do for the next match," said Raonic after ousting French Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka and Frenchman Gael Monfils to reach this juncture. "I am constantly considering things."
He should consider this: the truth laid bare is that while Murray’s body was ready and willing to do the hard yards, as they put it in Aussie, through five sets, four hours and three minutes, Raonic’s frame collapsed against a man who rarely wilts. 23 aces flew past him, but Murray has seen and done this all before.
In the end, the man in the sleeve was leaking like a sieve, both physically and mentally.
After six matches in which both men had not gone beyond three sets in each winning three, it is noticeable that this is the first time they have ran through five. Make of that what you will.
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Andy Murray against Milos Raonic - Australian Open 2016
Image credit: AFP
Yet Murray can’t and won’t entertain any notions of wallowing in grief for an opponent who was hell-bent on blitzing him out of the season’s first Grand Slam with serves more gargantuan than grapeshot.
Even if you can read the serve, how do you cope with a missile being hurtled into your body over and over again that almost looks like it is personal? Murray took it all the chin, midriff and below the belt before beginning to motor when Raonic began to hurt.
All the great champions can smell the kill, and Murray cut a largely dominant figure in the fourth and fifth sets after the 13th seed Raonic twice required medical attention. Like Djokovic and Roger Federer, the Great British hope remains a truly glorious figure in full flight.
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Rusedski: All the pressure is on Djokovic
Murray cannot afford to let the plight of an opponent affect his mission. He has been confronted by the dying swan routine of Djokovic on several occasions on his way to mind-shattering defeats in three out of eight Grand Slam finals. He is also not averse himself to exaggerating an untimely knock or two in his formative years.
For Raonic, there is a lesson to be gleaned from Murray’s desire, hunger and conditioning in his ongoing pursuit of Serbia’s Mr Invincible at the summit of the game. Raonic is rapidly improving, but he cannot yet be regarded as potent as the game’s leading three figures when he has yet to go beyond the last four at a major. And as unforgiving as it sounds, he cannot yet stand the test of time.
Having reached this stage as Wimbledon and now in Melbourne, perhaps it will be third time for Raonic, who fairly despaired after this defeat.
The nature of sport means this is all in the past. The future is what Murray must focus on. On the week of Groundhog Day, comes tennis Groundhog Day. The immediate future sees him confront Djokovic in the final for a second successive year, their fourth final in Australia and a fifth in all in Victoria. He has lost the lot. The only way is up. Perhaps.
You can’t afford to do anything poorly" said Murray. "Novak’s played extremely well. We’ve played a bunch of times here, and hopefully this time it will be a different result."
Murray’s second serve is not as delicate as some would have you believe. He produced some brave clutch serves down the T under pressure against a Raonic ready to rampage to the net. He won 32 out of 47 points on second serve. If he can land a high percentage of first serves and the second serve holds up as well on Sunday, he can serve up a storm in his attempts to finalise the third leg of a career Grand Slam to accompany Olympic gold and US Open from 2012, and Wimbledon in 2013.
Murray is a firm second favourite to disturb Djokovic - 1/6 against 4/1 are huge odds in a two-horse race between the world's top two. In contrast, having come up with some of the finest tennis in the history of the sport in the first two sets in his win over Federer in the semi-finals, there is an unrealistic expectation upon the Serbian to reproduce the impossible. Even by his standards.
For the sake of a good night's sleep, Murray should ignore what Djokovic did to Federer over the first hour or so on Thursday.
Don't pay any attention to what they write about you," said Andy Warhol. "Just measure it in inches."
Weeks before Murray is due to become a father for the first time, 15,000 fans on Rod Laver Arena, including Rod, and millions watching worldwide, expect Djokovic to show why he is the daddy. Murray will be expected to crumble quicker than Federer having last figured out Nole on such a grand stage at Wimbledon three years ago.
Unlike the Scotsman, it feels like Djokovic can only lose. Yet Murray's mental fortitude gives him a puncher's chance.
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