"The manual on how to watch tennis" - Andy Murray learning from watching Carlos Alcaraz-Djokovic Wimbledon final impresses Roger Federer's ex-coach
During a press conference at Mubadala Citi DC Open, former World No. 1 Andy Murray reflected on the fierce 2023 Wimbledon final between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
Andy Murray is a three-time Grand Slam champion, who won the US Open in 2012, becoming the first British player to win a Grand Slam since Freddy Perry 1936. Murray also ended the 77-year-long wait for a British Wimbledon champion as he beat Novak Djokovic in 2013 in the final at SW19, the only player before Alcaraz to achieve that feat.
While speaking to the press, Murray revealed that he learned a lot from watching the high-intensity battle where the Spaniard ultimately triumphed in five sets.
"I learned a lot watching those two," Murray said.
Ivan Ljubicic, who coached 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer between 2007 and 2022, took to Twitter to hail Murray's approach to the game. The Croat labeled Murray's comments as a "manual" for players to watch tennis.
"This is for the 'manual' on HOW to watch tennis matches if you're a player," Federer's ex-coach tweeted.
According to Ljubicic, young players these days do not watch enough tennis. Elaborating further, he explained that a lot can be learned from watching matches of other players and not just highlights.
"Today I find that young players are not watching enough tennis. If anything, highlights, which obviously don't say anything about the match. So much can be learned from matches of other players," Ljubicic added.
This is for the 'manual' on HOW to watch tennis matches if you're a player. Today I find that young players are not watching enough tennis. If anything, highlights, which obviously don't say anything about the match. So much can be learned from matches of other players twitter.com/TennisTV/statu…
"You could almost see Carlos Alcaraz learning as the match was going on" - Andy Murray
In the same press conference at Mubadala Citi DC Open, Andy Murray hailed World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz for his ability to learn while playing. Reflecting on the 2023 Championship final between Djokovic and Alcaraz, Murray reckoned the match was such a tight affair that it could have gone either way.
"Obviously, as the match went on, I thought they both played better and better and you could almost see Alcaraz learning as the match was going on. It could have gone either way to be honest it was so tight," Andy Murray said.
The World No. 44 mentioned that he shot videos of both players and concentrated on their aggressive gameplay, movement across the court and positional play while watching them from the stands.
"I ended up taking some videos of the guys [Alcaraz and Djokovic], just focusing a bit more on one side of the net, looking at their return position and movement between shots. Also looking at times when, particularly Alcaraz, was looking to play aggressive and offensive tennis and how he was going about doing that," the Brit said.
"I learned a lot. You could see Alcaraz learning" 🧠
@andy_murray reflects on watching the Wimbledon final between Djokovic & Alcaraz... pic.twitter.com/YQecPLfpIQ
Currently, Andy Murray is preparing to appear as the 15th-seeded player at the ATP 500 Citi Open in Washington, and he will also feature alongside compatriot Dan Evans in the doubles category.