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Murray's poor 2017 continues as Wawrinka marches on

Andy Murray. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)
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10th June, 2017
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World No. 1 Andy Murray’s poor form in 2017 has continued after going down 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1 at the hands of Stan Wawrinka in the French Open semi-final.

Despite Murray taking a two-sets-to-one lead, 2015 champ Wawrinka had the better of the match and would have wrapped it all up in straight sets had it not been for some reckless unforced errors and some great defensive plays from the Scot.

The Swiss maestro was too strong on the day, however, and advances to his second Roland Garros Final in three years despite racking up 77 unforced errors.

In a rematch of last year’s semi-final where Murray won in four sets, Wawrinka got his revenge on the back of some aggressive play which saw him notch 87 winners compared with Murray’s 36.

The four-hour 34-minute slug kept the crowd engaged with lengthy rallies and deft touches the order of the day.

The result means Murray has failed to reach a Grand Slam Final in 2017 after his disappointing fourth-round exit at the Australian Open in January.

Quite frankly, he only has himself to blame.

After putting on a serving clinic in his quarter-final trouncing of Kei Nishikori, things couldn’t have been more different for Murray as he landed just 58 per cent of his first serves on his way to being broken a staggering nine times.

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(AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)

If you want to compete in Grand Slams, you just cannot put up those kinds of numbers.

What will be more disappointing for the 30-year-old, however, was his second serve. Murray won just 47 per cent of his second serve points, as opposed to Wawrinka’s 61 per cent.

Murray will see this as a missed opportunity to widen the gap between himself and fierce rival Novak Djokovic who himself suffered an early exit, going down in straight sets at the hands of Austrian sixth seed Dominic Thiem on Wednesday.

Since being named world No.1 in November 2016, niggles and illnesses have been a constant burden for Murray. His 21-8 record, or 72 per cent winning percentage in 2017 is not what we have come to expect of the Scot who had an outstanding 2016 season where we finished 78-9 with a winning percentage a tick under 90 per cent.

Despite these struggles, Murray still leads Djokovic by almost 3,000 points in the ATP rankings in a season where tennis’ two top players have fallen flat.

We’re six months into the year and I sure hope we see some improvement out of the pair.

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But for now, Murray must return to the drawing board as he looks to rediscover the form from 2016 which saw him claim the World No.1 ranking and earn a Knighthood.

Come on Sir, you can do this.

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