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Anorak News | Andy Murray’s Australian Open Is No Summer Holiday: Photos

Andy Murray’s Australian Open Is No Summer Holiday: Photos

by | 25th, January 2011

TENNIS: The Australian Open turns minds to the new faces of tennis and Andy Murray.

Before Cliff Richard pricked the All England Club into fitting a roof on Wimbledon’s centre court, tennis offered the chance for nostalgia. With rain came a chance to read the paper, tackle the grouting in the downstairs toilet or watch old tennis matches. Now the tennis is on all the time. Tennis is still not big enough to afford seats on Henman Hill nor a decking area, a shed full of umbrellas and pruning shears, and swingball sets, but even without the garden tools the atmosphere at tennis matches has been often like watching The Chelsea Flower Show cabaret.

But this has shifted. Britain has a post-rain champion in Andy Murray. Unlike Tim Henman, who looked like a local solicitor pre-possessed with a tricky conveyancing matter, Murray growls and howls like an actual sportsman. Murray has tennis face. If you catch him when he’s in the zone, Murray looks like a werewolf. He sees the ball not as the proverbial football but as a full moon.

But, as with Henman, the question remains: can he win a Grand Slam tournament? Can he win in Australia, where the blue court and new trainers cause the play to be broadcast in a series of squeaks? Is Murray better than Nadal and Federer, and they have big guns and great hair, respectively. He’s up against it. But Maybe.

In the meantime, we can also wonder if Murray has the best tennis face. We’ve compiled a gallery of tennis faces. Put them on a video and overlay Cliff Richard singing Summer Holiday and you’ve got yourself a horror film right there…

tennis-face-1

Image 1 of 10



Posted: 25th, January 2011 | In: Sports Comments (7) | TrackBack | Permalink