22 October 2009
Sampras tips Scot for major victory
american believes murray is close to making the breakthrough
to winning elusive first grand slam
Former world number one Pete Sampras believes Andy Murray is on the verge of his first grand slam triumph and becoming a dominant force in tennis --- but only if the Scot learns to successfully manage his injury problems.
Murray has been out of action since taking part in Britain's Davis Cup loss to Poland in Liverpool last month while carrying a wrist injury he sustained in his disappointing run at the US Open.
Consequently the 22-year-old Scot has dropped from second to fourth in the world rankings with Serbia's Novak Djokovic, who won the China Open earlier this month, climbing to third behind world number one Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Murray has had arguably his best year to date, winning five titles --- taking his career total to 13 --- while becoming the first Briton to be ranked second in the world.
Sampras, who won his first grand slam at the age of 19 and 14 in all, believes Murray's first major victory will not be far off, with January's Australian Open a possibility.
"He plays a game which takes a lot of work on the body. I know he works hard off the court, but I think if he is smart with his injuries and recovers and doesn't play and make them worse, he will be fine," he said.
"When it comes down to next year in Australia he will be fit and ready to go.
"Obviously he is trying to win his first major and he has come pretty close this year and he can taste it.
"He is in a fishbowl in the UK with all the expectations and pressure, it is not easy to deal with, but he is a great player and he is on the verge of really being a dominant player.
"He is up there and he is in his early 20s so he has many years to improve and learn and he will break through and win a couple of majors."
Another player looking to get back to his best after injury problems is Nadal.
The Spaniard returned to the circuit in September following a four-month lay-off due to knee and abdominal injuries and was denied his first tournament victory since April when he lost to Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in the final of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday.
Sampras is confident Nadal's recent injury problems will not affect his place near the top of the world rankings.
"He's going to be around in the top two or three in the world for as long as he wants to be," he said.
"He's an animal, a great athlete and a great player. He's going to go through different lulls in his game but when push comes to shove, you're always going to see Rafa in the last couple of days of the event."