Morning:
8°c
Andy Murray claimed he was going go-karting yesterday but I hope he finished in time to watch the men's final at Wimbledon, because Andy Roddick provided him with the template for victory over Roger Federer.
As I have said throughout Wimbledon, Murray was simply not aggressive enough when it mattered most and it cost him his chance of ending Britain's long wait for a grand slam champion.
By contrast, time and again Roddick stepped up to the plate, not just with his serve but also in return games. It was a phenomenal display to take the game to Federer as Roddick did yesterday and he maybe should have been rewarded with the title.
He was aggressive from the baseline, came to the net when he could and did everything possible to upset the rhythm of the greatest player ever to play the game.
Roddick's biggest strengths yesterday were the two things I think Murray has to work on the most: a top-class second serve and tactics in the big matches.
Murray's second serve was his major weakness throughout the tournament and he will need to improve it before the US Open.
Currently it doesn't have enough pace or spin, which allows opponents to tee off on their groundstrokes and it puts him on the back foot far too often.
It is a problem which affected Tim Henman during his playing career and the way Roddick continuously stayed aggressive on his second serve meant Federer was rarely able to get a foothold in return games.
That makes it so much harder to get any momentum going to break serve.
Roddick's positive attitude was mirrored in his overall game-plan which was the key to taking yesterday's match to five sets and in beating Murray in the semi-finals.
The Briton has such good hands that he needs to make better use of them by coming to the net more and shortening the points on certain occasions. He has been too defensive at times, which allows talented opponents to express themselves and is always a danger.
However, Murray made the semi-finals at Wimbledon and that has to rank as an extremely successful tournament. He got further than he ever has before and you have to give Roddick credit for playing a great match against him.
It's not just about Murray. There are similarities between the way Roddick has improved physically to the conditioning work the young Scot has done in the last 18 months.
The physical side of the game is more important than ever now and Federer's amazing run without injury - he has reached the semi-finals or better of the last 21 consecutive slams - is the cornerstone of his longevity and success.
Murray has reached a level where his ability to endure seven, five-set matches is undeniable and the gradual improvement in his record is hugely promising.
It should be his aim to win the next grand slam because his results prove he is knocking on the door in the biggest tournaments.
His game is suited to hard courts and I agree with him when he says the US Open is his best chance of success.
Hopefully, yesterday's marathon will show people just how difficult winning a grand slam is - you need to play well and like in so many sports, you need luck along the way.
Grass can be a great leveller so, from that point of view, winning the US Open is a harder task than Wimbledon.
There are a lot more distractions on court in New York but Murray has already proved he can thrive in that atmosphere. He has already made one final at Flushing Meadows and he is undoubtedly a better player now than he was last September.
The improvements he needs to make are not major transformations in his game and he has time to work on his aggression in the US hard court season prior to the final major of the year.
Roddick raised his level to mix it with Federer and showed Murray and everyone else that on any given day, it is possible to match the best player on the planet on his favourite surface.
I thought Federer played as well as he was allowed to by an opponent who stifled his natural game and imposed himself very impressively.
Roddick blew away Federer's ability to dictate play and it took him over four hours to finally break him down.
Murray knows he has the game to beat all the great guys and he has to play like it.
Forget about the go-karting Andy, the race to New York is now on.
