2015 Season Review: Andy Murray

Andy Murray of Great Britain poses with his trophy following victory on day three of the Davis Cup Final 2015 at Flanders Expo on November 29, 2015 in Ghent, Belgium. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Coming into the season, Andy Murray had two primary achievements for the season: Win a Grand Slam and win the Davis Cup. Murray has seen his other three Big Four rivals win the Davis Cup, most recently Roger Federer last year. The Brit would have to end a near 80-year drought to see his country lift up the title, but he knew the feat was possible. At the end of the day, team glory triumphed individual glory for the world number two, and that is exactly what he achieved in his biggest moment of the season.

Win/Loss

The 28-year-old hit a career-high 71 wins, going 71-14 on the year. In Murray’s best year, he picked up 49 of his 71 wins in Masters 1000 and Grand Slams. He was also quietly dominant on clay. The Scot won an astounding 17-1 on the dirt, his best mark in his career by far and won two of his four titles on clay.

High Points

Without a doubt, Murray’s high point would have to be leading his country to Davis Cup glory. In the first tie against the United States, he won two live singles rubbers with James Ward’s masterful comeback victory was much important in giving the Brits a 2-0 lead after the first day. Against France, Murray began his string of dominance. The French were a different animal compared to the states with star singles players and those singles players potentially thrown into doubles as well. With him and big brother Jamie, they halted a possible “French Revolution” on the Queen’s Club grass as they were onward to the semifinals.

Captain Leon Smith went with a bold call in the Davis Cup Semifinal tie against Australia putting in Dan Evans to face Bernard Tomic. Evans had previously beaten Tomic at the US Open not too long ago, but it was quite the call to open up a semifinal. The Aussie had no problem dealing with Evans, meaning that Andy knew he was set to play three straight rubbers once again. He knew that he needed to bring his A game against the doubles team of Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth, a duo that single-handedly brought Australia to the semifinals. Despite some off moments, the Murray brothers survived, and Andy handily dispatched Tomic to setup a finals showdown against Belgium.

Belgium chose clay for their surface knowing it was Murray’s “weakest surface”, but what they didn’t take into account was that it was the Scot’s best surface of the year, and that it was their best player’s, David Goffin, second best surface, with hard courts being his tops. The 28-year-old was nearly home free of having to win three rubbers once again with Kyle Edmund blasting his way to a two sets to love lead over Goffin, but the moment overwhelmed him too much as he faltered in the end.

There was a new fire lit in Murray’s eyes knowing he was just three rubbers away from potential history. He picked up the slack that Jamie was showing in the doubles as they won that match over Goffin and Steve Darcis to put themselves a match away from the title. You could literally call Murray’s final performance, the best for last as he was utterly flawless in sealing the title over Goffin in straight sets.

Low Points

With only one loss in his opening match all year, it’s tough to find a low point of Murray’s season. However, a number of heartbreaking losses to Novak Djokovic has to take the cake. The world number one and world number two met in the biggest tournaments throughout the world, but Murray wound up only winning one of those matches, the Rogers Cup final. These are Murray’s losses to Djokovic this year: Australian Open final (four sets), Indian Wells semifinals (straights), Miami Open final (three sets), French Open semifinal (five sets and came from two sets down), Shanghai Masters semifinal (straight sets), and Paris Masters final (straight sets).

Best Results

MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 10: Andy Murray of Great Britain holds the winners trophy after his win over Rafael Nadal of Spain in the final during day nine of the Mutua Madrid Open. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Murray went 4-3 in finals this year with all three of his losses coming to Djokovic. However, he did pip him for one title at the Rogers Cup, his final title of the year. Murray’s first two titles came on clay with the first one involving a Monday final which delayed his trip to Madrid. He’d win back-to-back titles in Munich and Madrid, defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber and Rafael Nadal respectively in the finals en route to a dominant clay season.

The Scot won a grass title at the Aegon Championships after defeating Kevin Anderson and capped off his title haul with a hard court title in Canada in an physically taxing battle against Djokovic.

Worst Results

Andy Murray of Great Britain serves uses a towel after losing a set to Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Murray only found himself out early in a couple of tournaments this year. He exited in the quarterfinals in back-to-back tournaments in February in Rotterdam and Dubai, falling in the quarterfinals. His worst actual result though came at the Citi Open where he crashed out in his first match, a second round battle against Teymuraz Gabashvili, falling in a third set tiebreak.

Grade: A-

How important was a Davis Cup title and team success for Murray compared to individual glory? It was so important that he was willing to skip the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in order to train for it. Despite not winning a Slam, you could say that it was Murray’s finest year outside of 2012. He won four titles on three different surfaces, made semifinals or better in three Slams, won his first clay Masters title, and won the Davis Cup. All in all, a solid year’s work for the Brit. Maybe like Djokovic did in 2011, a Davis Cup title will propel Murray to new heights in the new year, but only time will tell to see if that will hold true.