When Murray turned on the power

08 November 2016 - 09:43 By ANNABEL CROFT

It's amazing how one win can turn a season around. That was definitely the case for Andy Murray when he played Benoît Paire in Monte Carlo in April. He was coming off a couple of disappointing events in Miami and Indian Wells, and I remember watching him against Paire and thinking: "This is one of the worst matches I've seen him play."But Paire froze. He could not finish the match off. It was as if Murray flicked a switch and his level came up 10 notches. You could see him finding himself again, and from that moment he has gone from strength to strength until there is no one who can live with him on the Tour.Players talk about being in the zone. It's a hard thing to describe, but when you cannot find that zone - like Murray in that period in March and early April - you end up forcing it.The same thing is true of Novak Djokovic at the moment. I am so used to watching him and thinking that he will never miss. But now everything is out of kilter and he seems to be seeking answers all the time.Murray is the one in balance and making the game look so easy. It's amazing to think that we used to criticise him for being passive. When he hits the ball these days, it feels like it has a concrete centre because of the weight he puts behind his shots. He stresses his opponents out with his dynamic movement, that phenomenal ability to spin on the spot like a polo pony.Murray might still chunter away to the players' box, but he has achieved a level of consistency we have never seen from him before, both from one match to the next and in terms of playing every point as if his life depended on it.This is the biggest individual change that I have noticed. Murray's focus used to ebb and flow throughout matches, so that he would spend unnecessary energy even when he won. Now he is relentless. Ivan Lendl has clearly helped him on this front and must have emphasised the importance of staying locked on.I also wonder whether the Davis Cup played a part. You do tend to stay more present, and more motivated, when you are playing for a team. Djokovic's evolution into the best player in the world followed Serbia's run to the Davis Cup title in 2010, and Great Britain's success last year seems to have had the same effect on Murray.It would have been easy to have become demoralised by the quality of the players ahead of him, but he never stopped trying to improve.He has been ruthless in the way he hired coaches, learned from them, and then moved on. But the most important person this year has arguably been Jamie Delgado, who has been at his side at every event.Delgado lives and breathes tennis, and has known Murray for years. He has a great sense of humour, and that is what Murray responds to. All the people in his team have that quality. Lendl has it too .Last year Amélie Mauresmo was in Paris and Jonas Björkman in Sweden, so it didn't work so well. It was nice to see Murray single Delgado out as the most important member of his team. They have struck up a world-beating partnership. ©The Daily Telegraph..

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