Ahmed Rizvi
These must be frustrating times for Andy Murray’s fans. Just over 13 months ago, they were celebrating his momentous Wimbledon triumph and predicting many more such moments. It has been downhill since.
The Scot, a world No 2 at the time, has dropped five places on the rankings since returning to the courts as No 4 after his lower back surgery last year.
Murray has played 16 tournaments since his Wimbledon triumph and has yet to reach a final – his best being two semis.
Considered one of the “Big Four” of men’s tennis, Murray has lost all seven matches against top 10 players since he defeated Novak Djokovic to end Britain’s 77-year wait for a Wimbledon champ.
He has not really dominated the next 10 on the men’s ranking either. His record against player’s ranked No 11 to No 20 is 4-4 and his winning percentage of 71 in 2014 is his lowest since 2006.
After his Wimbledon triumph a period of decline was predicted. He had, after all, just reached the peak of his ambitions.
His continued slump, though, is a cause for concern, and the surgery, or his health, cannot be an excuse any more.
The mental gremlins, it seems, are back, and his latest two defeats are evidence. At Toronto, Murray was up 3-0 in the third set against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga but lost the decider 6-4.
Against Roger Federer at Cincinnati last week, he was up 4-1 in the second set but lost six of the next seven games to bow out.
“I blew it,” Murray said after his loss to Federer, expressing frustration at his lack of consistency in 2014.
The departure of Ivan Lendl from his coaching staff might have affected the mental side of Murray’s game.
The two had been working together since December 2011 and, during that period, Murray won Olympic gold and the US Open, in 2012, and the 2013 Wimbledon title.
Murray did have some good results playing without a coach, reaching the semis at Acapulco and Roland Garros, but that is not a judgment on Amelie Mauresmo’s abilities.
There were reports of discontent among his coaching staff over the appointment of the French woman and, if true, that could be a distraction.
Murray is keen to continue working with Mauresmo, but his results at the US Open, which starts Monday, could well decide the future of their partnership.
Murray could still turn a poor year around at Flushing Meadows.
He certainly has happy memories of New York, where he played his first grand slam tournament final in 2008 and then won his first major in 2012.
Historically, he has done well on hard courts, winning 22 of his 28 titles on that surface, including nine Masters and a grand slam title.
In 2012, Murray won just one match apiece at the Toronto and Cincinnati Masters, so he arrives in New York next week with a chance to salvage a disappointing season. Write him off at your peril.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
MATCH INFO
Fulham 0
Aston Villa 3 (Grealish 4', Hourihane 15', Mings 48')
Man of the match: Jack Grealish (Aston Villa)
