Andy Murray has a dilemma ahead of Davis Cup final, says Barry Cowan
Brit to play in Paris, London and then prepare for Belgium on clay...
Monday 19 October 2015 13:21, UK
Andy Murray has 'a little bit of a dilemma' ahead of him with the British No 1 having to make the tough transition from hard court to clay, says Barry Cowan.
The Scot was handed a 6-1 6-3 humbling by 10-time major winner Novak Djokovic in the Shanghai Masters semi-finals at the weekend.
But Murray, who has moved back above Roger Federer to No 2 in the world this week, will now begin his preparations for the crunch Davis Cup final at the end of next month.
He will next play at the Paris Masters which begins on November 2 and he will then compete at London's O2 for the ATP World Tour finale from 15-22 November.
The former Wimbledon champion will then have to make the tough transition from hard court to clay in Ghent when they take on Belgium as they aim for their first victory in the Davis Cup since 1936.
"Andy's plan, and I will be surprised if he changes that plan, will be to play Paris and then London - he will have to play London [because] it's a mandatory event. He's qualified for that and then the Davis Cup final the following week.
"The biggest issue Andy has is both Paris and London are on hardcourts and the Davis Cup final is on clay starting four of five days after the conclusion of the World Tour finals. That is the difficult part about his schedule.
"In recent years because of the back problem he had, the back surgery, he's found it difficult to make that transition from hard to clay, so I think that's a little bit of a dilemma.
"From all accounts I think we'll see him put in a great performance in Paris as we will in London. He played well last week [but] he was beaten by Novak Djokovic who again was just incredible."
And on the remarkable run from the Serb with nine overall titles this calendar year, Cowan added: "Novak has come on the back of two incredible players and two incredible personalities in Rafa [Nadal] and Roger [Federer] and all of a sudden he's just spoilt the party.
"What Novak is doing at the moment is extraordinary and also some of his tennis is not as jaw-dropping as when you watch someone like Federer, it's not as pleasing on the eye. Not that I'm diminishing what Novak is doing because this could be one of the great seasons we've ever seen.
"He's won three Grand Slams and he's head and shoulders above the rest. In terms of points, he's almost got double the amount of points as [second placed] Murray.
"He still looks fresh and the scary thing is I still think there is room for improvement. AT 28-years of age he's still in his prime and is certainly on track to winning the most majors."
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