THE MOTHER THAT ROARED

Hard to relax ... Judy Murray. Photo: AP

The world No.5's entourage was more hindrance than help during the final, writes Peter Hanlon.

OF ALL the vision that should trouble Andy Murray if he can bring himself to press 'Play' and review Sunday night's Melbourne Park massacre, his most cringeworthy moments had nothing to do with hitting a tennis ball.

Judy Murray is a bona fide tennis coach - although not officially that of her son, who split with Miles Maclagan last year and works sporadically with Spaniard Alex Corretja. Like all tennis parents she has every right to attend her son's matches, get up out of her seat and bellow ''Come on!'' with the best of them. But would it really harm his game if she did it from 20 rows back? And if she took his various fitness advisers and human sounding boards with her, and let Murray work his way through matches himself, could he be any more lost for answers or inspiration than he was on Sunday night?

Coaching from the bleachers is officially a no-no in tennis, and on Sunday night, the most telling case for tennis players to submit themselves to a bit of tough love came at the end of the first set, when an agitated Murray raised both hands in a calming motion from his courtside seat and mouthed ''Relax'' to his team. Clearly, it wasn't only Djokovic who was getting the Scot's dander up.

If they weren't there, his sole focus might have been on working out a way to get back into the match, an assignment which the fifth-best player in the world should probably be able to tackle on his own.

The Sydney Morning Herald

smh.com.au