US Open: Andy Murray suffers from post-Wimbledon comedown
Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Success can have a sting in the tail, and in Andy Murray's case it is the surprise provoked by a Grand Slam quarter-final defeat.
Before Stanislas Wawrinka's breathtaking straight-sets victory in the last eight of the US Open, the Scot had reached at least the semi-finals in nine of his previous 10 majors, equalling Fred Perry's overall British record of 13 in so doing.
Yet here at Flushing Meadows, Murray's serve lacked some pop and his groundstrokes were not laced with their customary attacking intent.
The intense humidity and the wind seemed to bother him more than they otherwise might, and he became increasingly fractious as he strove, in vain, to attain the high standards he sets himself.
He even wrote off his racquet after losing the first set to Wawrinka, in a flash of anger rarely seen since he began working with coach Ivan Lendl nearly two years ago.
The Swiss produced a golden performance - full of rasping baseline winners and devastatingly good volleys - but Murray still made too many unforced and uncharacteristic errors, and threw in a few double faults at critical times.
Two months ago, he recovered from two sets to love down to beat Fernando Verdasco in the Wimbledon quarter-final, but he wasn't playing with the same belief here in New York.
And Murray was honest enough to admit, as he left the court and headed directly to the interview room, that winning Olympic gold, the US Open and Wimbledon within a 12-month period had taken its toll.
"When you work hard for something for a lot of years," he said, "it's going to take a bit of time to really fire yourself up and get yourself training, you know, 110%.
"Physically, I played some extremely tough matches in that period. Mentally, as well, it was very challenging for me... the last few games of Wimbledon to you guys may not seem like much, but to me it was extremely challenging."
The 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash warned before this event that it would be very difficult for Murray to climb another peak so soon after winning at SW19.
And Boris Becker - who did manage to win both Wimbledon and the US Open in 1989 - told BBC Sport just how tough it is to win back to back Grand Slams.
"If it was so easy, you would do it every week. He's certainly had a few very emotional highs over the past 18 months, and it's not easy to digest that, and to come to terms with that and find new motivation and inspiration, and that's what coming across. He's doing everything he's supposed to do but the extra 10% is missing."
Becker thinks Murray should now set himself new goals, so that he has new reasons to work harder. He suggests targeting victory in the Australian Open, trying to become the world number one, and attempting to win the World Tour Finals for the first time.
Murray pours his heart and soul into every Grand Slam, and it has reaped handsome dividends, so he's unlikely to change tack too much - even if his results in the Masters Series events are surprisingly erratic for a player of such outstanding ability.
I am confident that Murray will have rediscovered his vim and vigour in time for January's Australian Open, where he should once again feel he is at least the equal of every other player in the draw.
But there are signs that winning Grand Slams are about to become even tougher.
The semi-finals used to be the almost exclusive preserve of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray (with David Ferrer as a very hard working understudy), but this year Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin del Potro, Jerzy Janowicz, Richard Gasquet and now Stan Wawrinka have all reached the last four.
And as they grow in confidence, so too will the threat they pose.
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You'd never heard of Stanlislas Wawrinka?
Just an opinion then but perhaps you have no place on a tennis forum. He's been in-and-around the world's top 10 for the last 5 years, the only people who wouldn't know that would be the one's that only take an interest in tennis to watch someone lose.
Many may not rate Murray but those he competes with do and surely they know far more than we do...
The levels of expectation, from all parts, including himself, were bound to effect him, but he'll bounce back.
No one is biting. Please go away. I feel sorry for you, that your life is so pathetic and so lacking in meaning that you need to spend your time craving attention on an internet message board.
Please make some friends, save us the irritation.
PS. Unlucky Andy, can't win them all. Here's hoping for a good ATP finals and a great 2014.
Good to see the Murray haters out in force, and using a comment he made years ago to justify their hatred of him. I love living in a country where people are so gleeful towards seeing people fail. I'm not sure what Andy has actually done to merit this hatred. He seems a decent bloke to me. Giving his winnings to a cancer charity, is a good example.
To mention Lance Armstrong in the same paragraph as Andy Murray is disgusting, one thing you can be sure of is that AM is as clean as a whistle when it comes to doping.
I think we expect too much of our No 1 tennis player, lets enjoy the success he gave us in the Summer,
Stan has this in him and he's brought his A-game against Murray before.But before the doomsday scenario's emerge, Murray blitzed Novak only three months ago. Its a blip, he'll be back.
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And Murray has a winning record against Federer. Comparisons of this type are a little pointless.
The prize money on offer is clearly high in tennis (although I personally think its the sport that requires the most individual skill and conditioning). But perhaps the difference is that prize money makes tennis completely meritocratic, first round knock out means next to nothing, win the thing equals big cheque
Footballers are paid through the nose regardless and there's 11 of them
Hope Stan can go on and win the tournament, he has been in or around the top 10 for quite a while now.
But to suggest Murray is not a good tennis player because he lost this one match is ridiculous. Whether you like him or not he is a very good tennis player.
The way Stan played he would have beaten anyone. Murray didn't have his game but he will be back bigger and better. Ivan will make him get his head down and sort himself out and he'll be ready for the Tour Finals!
Oh dear, still harping on about that comment Murray made about the England football team all those years ago? What a bitter individual you must be.
It's a shame that Andy couldn't make more of a fight to retain his US Open crown, still, he was beaten by a player who was simply better than him on the night. All credit to Wawrinka for a stunning performance.
Wawrinka, by contrast, is on a high with a new coach and with countryman Federer's shadow fading. He's always had the game to compete with the best and just needed to add the mental toughness.
I know people will go on about how winning a GS never affected RF, RN or ND but Andy winning Wimbledon is a massive deal. Why? Us and the press have made it so. I think this dip was expected to happen. look at most of the post 2008 and 2012 olympians.
He has had a year of firsts and will need to learn how to deal with a different form of expectation now. What a year!
Expectations have never been higher, but Andy will bounce back