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Andy Murray Latest and General Tennis Chat


Bryan

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So Nadal pulls out of Paris and London. Probably doesn't make that much difference to Murray considering they'd only meet in the Paris final and they'd be kept apart in the group stage in London, but thought it should at least get a mention.

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So Nadal pulls out of Paris and London. Probably doesn't make that much difference to Murray considering they'd only meet in the Paris final and they'd be kept apart in the group stage in London, but thought it should at least get a mention.

He now has 2 and a half months to get fit for the AO. Apparently it's touch and go.

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I believe Federer is going to skip the Paris Masters, meaning he will drop 1000 points. He has dropped 200 points today by losing to Del Potro with a further 1500 to defend at the O2. There is just about no chance now he will finish as the year end number one. For Murray to finish ahead of Federer now he will need to win Paris and the 02.

I think Nadal will be back in time for the AO. They certainly will make him skip the event if they feel he isn't right.

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andy murray talks about doping. he has changed his tune in regards to frequency of testing. he has done a fair bit of moaning about ooc testing and post match testing in the past.

My link

The drug testers came calling on Andy Murray here on Saturday night before the start of this week's Paris Masters – and the 25-year-old Scot was very happy to see them. Murray believes that tennis needs to do more out-of-competition drug testing and would like to see sanctions against players who fail tests applied more stringently.

While tennis is not believed to have a major drugs problem, critics believe that not enough testing is done, particularly out of competition. Most tests are carried out by the International Tennis Federation, though the World Anti-Doping Agency and UK Anti-Doping also test players.

Most tests are carried out during tournaments and most are urine tests, which are not considered as effective as blood tests. Last year only 21 players worldwide – 18 men and three women – were blood-tested out of competition by the ITF and Wada. Murray had a maximum of three in 2011 and none at all in 2010.

"I think the out-of-competition stuff could probably get better," Murray said. "When we're in December, when people are training and setting their bases, I think it would be good to try and do more.

"I would be completely open to anyone to come and watch what I do in December and see the stuff I do, how I recover, how I wake up some mornings. Sometimes guys are good at putting a brave face on after playing a five-hour match and getting up the next day, struggling to walk, all those things. People can come and watch the training that we do. But I don't think people look at tennis players in the same way that they would at the cyclists because this sport hasn't had the problems they've had."

Drug testing in France across all sports has become more thorough in recent years, particularly after all the controversies surrounding the Tour de France, and Murray was not surprised to be tested here. "In France they are pretty strict – pretty much every tournament I've played in France they've done drug testing," he said. "But the fact that it was blood and out of competition is a bit different to what we're used to."

There have been around 60 drugs cases since tennis started testing 22 years ago. Murray admitted that "you never know in any sport what's really going on", but said he did not believe tennis had a problem like cycling, which he described as a "purely physical" sport.

"I think there's very little skill involved in the Tour de France," Murray said. "It's pretty much just physical. A lot of the way the teams work now is just science, the power, however many watts you're producing, they know all of it based on how much the heart rates, all those things. Whereas with tennis, you can't teach the skill by taking a drug."

However, Murray believes that more testing could be done at the lower levels of tennis, pointing out that only the top 50 players have to complete "whereabouts" forms, specifying where they will be available to be tested every day of the year. "It doesn't necessarily always make sense just to test the guys that are at the top," Murray said. "You need to do it throughout the whole sport."

Murray said it had been wrong that some players had had drugs suspensions reduced. He pointed to the case of the American Wayne Odesnik, who was initially banned for two years for taking human growth hormone into Australia but had the sanction cut after he co-operated with the authorities.

"If people fail the tests, don't let them off and don't say, 'OK, it's going to go from two years to six months', because that's not how it should work," Murray said. "If we're going through this process, which, yes, can at times be a bit frustrating even if it is necessary, when somebody fails a test, don't just let them back into the sport 18 months earlier than they should be.

"That's what was frustrating for me about it because we're going through all of this and they're being too lenient with guys that are travelling with human growth hormone to other countries. It's ridiculous.

while he is right to say that cycling has the greater potential for ped abuse i don't think you can discount the value of peds in skill sports. the very fact that he trains so hard in itself proves that strength and endurance increasing drugs would be helpful to tennis players.

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while he is right to say that cycling has the greater potential for ped abuse i don't think you can discount the value of peds in skill sports. the very fact that he trains so hard in itself proves that strength and endurance increasing drugs would be helpful to tennis players.

Saw this last night. How did I know it would've been you that posted it?

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i just thought it was interesting compared to his previous comments about blood testing here and OOC testing here. quite the volte face.

there were some hilarious comments from serena williams about the stringency of the drug testing regime in tennis as well recently despite the fact that she went two years without an OOC test.

the comments look like pure pr in the wake of the armstrong saga and the revelations about one of his key doping doctors working with many tennis players.

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Evening match against Paul-Henri Mathieu today. I'm going to see Skyfall tonight so will be sneakily checking livescore for this score and ICT's at Castle Greyskull.

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Querrey went 200/1 to win when he was down the break in the second. I stopped watching after that as well, thinking the match was over so can't even comment on what turned it around. Great win for Querrey though.

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Murray sneaks through 7-5 6-3. Comfortable enough. Through to meet Jerzy Jankowicz tomorrow. They have met once before in the Davis Cup where Murray won in three easy enough sets. Should pose little threat.

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An incredible serve Jankowicz has. Murray could do very little against his first serves all match. Murray still really should have won the match, but it is one of those losses where conserving energy for the finals next week is a great consolation. I think Murray went a wee walk in that third set.

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Think Jankowicz got up to nearly 80% first serves at one point in that final set. Had looked a fairly standard straight sets victory for Murray until he lost his serve after that match point. From then on he barely got a shot in.

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*Puts tinfoil hat on*

If you look at the winners of the tournament over the last few years, you'll see how seriously the top players take it. Barring last year and 2009 perhaps.

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