Andy Murray is the defending U.S. Open champion in the Men's Singles tournament. While watching his first round performance, there were aspects of Murray's game that were not quite clicking in his match versus Michael Llodra. Was the 2012 U.S. Open champ exposed by an unseeded player early in the tournament?
Murray had some issues with Llodra's approaches to the net. Granted, Murray only committed five unforced errors, at times, he seemed to panic when Llodra played at the net. Some balls wound up getting knocked against the net, others were smashed passed Murray.
Half of Llodra's points came from the net. The Frenchman won 33/60 net points, that's more than half of his total points for the match. It was a route on Murray's behalf as the Scot won 91 points to Llodra's 61. But again, Llodra was fairly successful when he played from close range.
What if it wasn't Llodra and Murray was facing an opponent of better quality? Unforced errors eventually became Llodra's enemy, committing 29 in the match. Yet, he had Murray on the ropes multiple times. The second set was all Llodra. He started the match with a 3-0 lead. Eventually, he got carried away with his net play and Murray was able to take advantage of the weaker opponent.
Had Llodra made wiser decisions of when to play the net, chances are we would have seen a closer battle. He played the net a total of 46 times in the second and third sets; his most successful sets.
Murray will likely make the proper adjustments. Though Llodra was successful at the net, it was good to see Murray rely on his movements on the court rather than his serves. Known for his booming serves, Murray was apparently saving his energy for later in the rounds. He finished with only three aces in the entire match and relied on passing shots as Llodra continued to overuse his play at the net.
Next up for Murray in the 2013 U.S. Open will be Leonardo Mayer of Argentina. Murray is 1-0 in their only match. The two last met in 2009 at Valencia.
Did you pick up any weaknesses in Murray's game? Let us know in the comment section.
