Is Andy Murray Rafa Nadal's New Nemesis?

Posted by T. A. Niles Feb 16, 2009

Of course it is a tad early to start beating Andy Murray's drum, or settling in comfortably on his bandwagon (just ask the bookies who handled the AO), but you've got to admit it is an intriguing question. Three consecutive wins over Roddick and Federer, and two straight against Nadal and Novak Djokovic? That's pretty heady stuff!

Ok, speaking of drums, Roddick is beatable at any time by any of the top tier players who can get his serve back; i.e., all of them. And, granted, both Federer and Djokovic have been vulnerable for some time now. Just this year alone, Djokovic has lost to players ranked 40th, 53rd, and 55th on Tour. And to think that he was once my pick to usurp Fed's No.1 title. Shows how much I know.

Fed has shown flashes of his former brilliance at the AO, but his string of losses to Murray late last year and early this year and his loss to James Blake at the Olympics, combined with his public implosion on the podium at the AO, are testimonies to Roger's vulnerability. But taking Rafa out two straight is no mean feat. One has to go back to 2007 to find a player with consecutive wins over Nadal.

David Nalbandian has won the two times they've played, and Mikhail Youhzny and James Blake had consecutive wins over Rafa in 2006 - 2007. But those wins were before Nadal had reached the pinnacle of dominance he's inhabited over the past year. Murray's lack of predictability, his shot variety, along with his speed, power, and exquisite touch may be just the combination one needs to ruffle Rafa's feathers.

Again, it's far too early to begin anointing Mr. Murray (I made that error with "Da Djoker"), but he has coerced his way into the conversation about the likeliest threat to Nadal's newly established dominance of men's tennis.