For each top athlete, a word. For Usain Bolt, it would have to be speed. For football’s Lionel Messi: balance. For swimmer Michael Phelps: buoyant. But for the new king of men’s tennis, Andy Murray, a quality both mental and physical springs to mind: fortitude.
Meanies would argue that Murray has taken over the No.1 ranking this week, the first Briton to reach the summit, only because the three players who were better than him for so long finally vacated it, a tennis equivalent of John, Paul and George giving Ringo a rare turn at the mic. And there is a modicum of truth in that.
Roger Federer, the 17-time major champion who this week dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since October 2002, long had the measure of Murray, beating him in three Grand Slam finals, but is now a largely spent force at age 35.
Rafael Nadal’s creaky body is paying the bill for his brand of nitro-power tennis that won him 14 major titles and the top ranking for a total of 141 weeks to July 2014. The 30-year-old hasn’t won a major since then, or even made a semifinal, and has had injuries to both wrists. But his career Grand Slam record against Murray is unequivocal: seven wins in nine encounters, with the last defeat way back at the 2010 Australian Open.
