Murray was tied up in knots and flung out of the Australian Open by an inspired Zverev
Sunday 22 January 2017 17:12, UK
Barry Cowan says Mischa Zverev played Andy Murray off the court with a modern-day take on the serve-volley game which dominated the tennis landscape in the 1980s.
Zverev flummoxed his opponent with his unorthodox game and broke the two-time Wimbledon and Olympic champion eight times over the contest.
The world No 50 was helped by a below-par performance from Murray but thoroughly deserved his 7-5 5-7 6-2 6-4 victory over three and a half hours on Rod Laver Arena, which earned him a dream quarter-final showdown with 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.
Germany's Zverev - the older brother of rising star Alexander, who is tipped by many to be a future Grand Slam champion - will take the family name into the final week of a major for the first time and his game style impressed Cowan.
"I've been believing for a few years now, why can't you come forward? Why can't you serve and volley? Why can't you take the other guys time away?" said Sky Sports' tennis analyst.
"Zverev won 55 per cent of his points at the net. Throughout 2016 Murray won 55 per cent of all his points to finish No 1 so it's always a few points here and there that can decide matches.
"How many points would Zverev win at the back of the court against Murray? Well, over the course of a match he's not going to beat him, so that's your best chance - come forward.
"The mindset of the modern day players of coming to the net is very much one of negativity.
"For Andy, he didn't play badly, he just couldn't find any magic, but I think a lot of that is due to the fact that he doesn't play players like Zverev. There is no one around who plays like him.
It was very reminiscent of a lot of the tennis we used to see in the 1980's and early 90's, which has been a dying art in recent years.
"Andy, likes a baseline player, likes a target but he prefers hitting passing shots after an extended rally. But what Zverev did was to come forward early - serve and volley - chip and charge. He had a very good conversion rate on the shorter rallies. But what he was able to do because he's fit and strong was to dig deep during the baseline rallies.
"He didn't do anything special during the baseline rallies, but he was just very consistent. There was one stage in the fourth set, which would have applied to the rest of the match, when he actually won more of the longer rallies than Murray, but that was because of the damage he did on the shorter rallies.
"He unsettled Murray. He took his time away and rushed him. It was very reminiscent of a lot of the tennis we used to see in the 1980's and early 90's, which has been a dying art in recent years."
Murray prides himself on the variety of weapons at his disposal but some, like his lob, deserted him, while others were undermined by the lack of pace Zverev offered him to work with.
Zverev served solidly and came up with 52 winners, charging the net 118 times and broke the world No 1 five times in the first two sets alone.
Cowan added: "I think it's good to see because I like variation. As much as the admiration I've had for these guys, the feeling amongst all the tennis world is that it's a bit samey. You need variation. The best match-ups have been attack against defence. It's Bjorn Borg-John McEnroe, it's the Boris Becker-Ivan Lendl. It's those type of matches that often bring out the best out in players.
"We've gone through a period where return has been the key and fitness as well as baseline strength of a lot of those top guys. But the court surfaces and the balls are very samey. Everything is the same. But what's been apparent now is that the conditions are quicker this week in Melbourne. The balls are quicker, which allows attacking tennis. That's a huge shift in mentality and it makes life easier.
"The opponent today was different. Zverev came with something different and also played at a very high level. Coming to the net is an art. You got to be able to know how to move, defend, know when to come to the net and read the play and you've got to know where to put the volleys in certain situations."
Asked if he thinks serve-volley is back, Cowan said: "I hope so. The trend in recent years has been because the top guys don't do it then we can't do it.
"The next generation have got to find other ways of beating to top guys. It will give hope when other players come up against top players to 'have a go' just 'have a go' and if you have a go and don't win, then at least you've give yourself your best shot as opposed to playing the same way and coming up short."
Murray, who has lost five finals at Melbourne Park, four of them to Novak Djokovic, said he would be back and Cowan feels the four-set humbling was "not a disaster".
He said: "At the end of last year I said I felt that Australia would come too soon for Andy given what he achieved last year and how much big time tennis he had to play.
"Last year was a very tough year, not just in terms of trying to win another Slam, but also the race to be No 1. Obviously the birth of his first child and then he was straight back in it.
"He hasn't lost the desire, but sometimes [he lost] that couple of per cent of being not as sharp in crucial moments, and you only really see that when the going gets tough.
"It comes to show at the pivotal moments, now I didn't think it would happen today against Zverev because I thought he would have too much quality, but I just thought Australia would come too soon. In the long-term, it's not a disaster for Andy - he's still world No 1 and I expect him to come back and make the latter stages of the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open."
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