The freshly wed Andy Murray scrawled ‘Marriage works’ on the TV camera lens immediately after beating Rafael Nadal to register his finest result since winning Wimbledon.
Well something is certainly happening for the 27 year-old Scot, who produced his finest performance in nearly two years to dethrone the king of clay with a stunning 6-3 6-2 victory in the final of the Madrid Open.
It could be wedded bliss, the inspiration of his expecting coach Amelie Mauresmo, the addition of Jonas Bjorkman to his team or all three, but he has not looked this good since that heady afternoon in SW19 back in July 2013.
World No.3 Andy Murray gives a thumbs up posing with the Madrid Open trophy, having emphatically defeated Rafael Nadal in the final
Andy Murray celebrates having landed the Madrid Open title, his first Masters title on clay, by beating Rafael Nadal in straight sets 6-3, 6-2
Murray smiles for the assembled cameras with his opponent Nadal having won his first ever clay court Masters 1000 title on Sunday
Yes it is true that Nadal is below the level we are accustomed to seeing on clay, but his confidence was never allowed to recover as he was buried beneath the clay of the Caja Magica at what is the biggest tournament staged in his home country.
After an hour and 28 minutes of being on the wrong end of relentlessly positive and precision tennis Nadal's adoring public had been reduced to an almost embarrassed hush.
Having gone ten years on the circuit without winning a clay court title Murray has now claimed two within six days, following on from the BMW Open in Munich. It was also his first win over one of the 'Big Three' in twelve matches, having gone through a barren patch against them following the historic Wimbledon win over Novak Djokovic.
His entry onto the European clay court circuit was delayed by his wedding to Kim Sears, and he stated afterwards that was a factor in this sudden spike in clay court form.
'I have always said that when you private life is under control and you are happy that helps you on court,' he told Sky Sports afterwards. 'But also I haven't been in this good physical shape on the clay in the last couple of years so I owe a big thanks to my team.
'I played a very good match and made very few errors, I changed the height of the ball extremely well and that's a reason why he was mis-hitting some of his shots. I dealt with the nervy moments pretty well too.'
IS THE KING OF CLAY SET TO BE DETHRONED?
1st - Andy Murray’s win was his first over Rafael Nadal on clay — he had lost their previous six meetings.
4th - Murray is just the fourth player to beat Nadal in a final on clay, joining Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Horacio Zeballos, who won in 2013 when Nadal was returning from injury.
2 - Murray had never won a title on clay. Now he has won two in a week, in Munich and Madrid.
10 - This is the first time in a decade that Nadal has been ranked outside the top five — he is now seventh.
4 - Nadal has lost four matches on clay this season, his worst record since his debut year in 2003.
9-0 - Murray has made his best ever start to a clay court season, winning nine straight matches.
14 - Nadal was on a 14-match winning streak at the Madrid Open until Murray’s win.
2004 - This was Nadal’s worst loss on clay since 2004, when he lost 6-2, 6-3 to Gaston Gaudio in Sweden
The Scot was in blistering form in Madrid on Sunday evening as he defeated reigning Madrid Open champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets
This was Murray's tenth Masters level title (the tier below the Grand Slams) and his first on clay. A health warning about the result is that Novak Djokovic sat the event out, and that the altitude of Madrid that makes the ball 'fly' a little bit differently to Roland Garros.
But Murray handled it all so much better than a deflated Nadal, who has now lost four times on clay this year and will drop out of the top five for the first time in a decade. He is at a low ebb and this could be the year the guard finally changes at Roland Garros.
That should not detract from the effort of the British number one, who in the past two weeks has just got on with whatever the weather and schedulers have thrown at him.
At the BMW Open he had two days washed out before winning the delayed final on a Monday, meaning he was a late arrival in Madrid. Then he had to contend with a 3am finish in his first match.
Far from rueing his luck, which he might have done in his younger years, he phlegmatically accepted his lot, come torrential rain or eccentric orders of play. It would seem a strange move for him to pull out of this week's Italian Open when he is on such a roll.
From the start last night he dictated matters by often taking the ball early and hitting with a ferocity, especially on the backhand side, that it is hard to recall. Nadal likes to invite opponents to play to his forehand, but found his stronger flank overwhelmed by the depth and accuracy of the balls fired at it.
At 1-4 in the first set he looked to be firing into life but Murray brilliantly choked off his recovery by saving break points. In the second set the Scot missed a simple volley to go 3-0 up but rode his frustration and went on to break him anyway.
There were no alarms in closing it out. Some food for thought for Djokovic, and some real worries for Nadal.
British tennis had two notable weekend successes at lower levels of the men's tour. Aljaz Bedene, the 25 year-old who has acquired British citizenship, won the Rome Challenger – beating experienced Italian Pototo Starace - to score his first title since playing under the Union flag. Birmingham's Dan Evans, who looked poised for the world's top 100 before dropping off the radar last summer, marked a return to action by winning the Futures title in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Murray reaches for a block return during his straight sets victory in the Madrid Open final on his way to land a first Masters clay title
Murray and Nadal played out the Madrid Open final in the magnificent 'Magic Box' arena on Sunday evening
The 'King of Clay' Rafael Nadal struggled with his forehand in the Madrid Open final against Murray and was very tense
The world No.3 sprints to chase down a Nadal drop shot at the 'Magic Box' arena in Madrid on Sunday night
Murray was in fantastic form to topple the reigning champion in straight sets in the Madrid Open final with a straight sets win
A despondent Nadal looks at the runner's up trophy having suffered a heavy straight sets defeat against Andy Murray on Sunday
Murray thanked all of his coaching team including Amelie Mauresmo (left) after his impressive triumph over Nadal in the Spanish captial
Murray is lost amongst the ball kids during a photo having won the Madrid Open, his second clay court title within a week
Learnt from Mail online
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