Australian Open 2016 men's final: Can Andy Murray 'Ashe' Novak Djokovic?

It's hard to recall a men's grand slam final between the world Nos. 1 and 2 in which the latter is given so little chance of winning.

In 1996, No. 1 Pete Sampras played No. 2 Michael Chang in the final of the US Open - and swotted little Mike like a blowfly. But Chang's ranking flattered his true capabilities in that period.

Andy Murray is a legit No. 2, narrowly ahead of Roger Federer. He's lost four finals here, Novak Djokovic has won five. The personal scorecard is 3-0 in the Melbourne Park final and, based on results in 2015, the distance between Novak and Andy (between Novak and everyone) has widened further.

Murray celebrates his victory over Milos Raonic. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

If Murray was fortunate to survive Milos Raonic's thunderbolts, he can't be said to have enjoyed an easy or uneventful tournament: His father-in-law collapsed in the stands, he had to endure the Bernie Tomic show then David Ferrer and has just escaped a nasty five-setter against Raonic.

Meanwhile, his wife Kim is eight-and-a-half months pregnant. Murray has said if she's suddenly in labour, he'd pull the pin on whatever match is next, though we assume Kim won't call with contractions if he's serving at 6-5 in a tiebreaker.

So Murray has plenty on his mind. He will need to exercise it for this final and, in Amelie Mauresmo, he might have the right Gallic cornerwoman to help devise a Djoker-slaying plan.

It will not have been lost on Mauresmo that her countryman Gilles Simon unexpectedly gave Djokovic a serious five-set fright. The most notable number from that game was this stunner: Novak made 100 unforced errors.

How did this happen? We cannot discount that Djokovic simply had a downer. Unfortunately for Murray, that's hardly the basis for a successful game plan.

But Simon, who's ranked No. 15, did bring something quite different to the round-of-16 match, compared with nearly every other Djoker victim.

"I know exactly what I was doing, but I won't say it," Simon said after pushing Djokovic to five sets. "I had a plan. I mean, I know him well. We all know which player he is and how hard it is to find any solution against him, to somehow stop the fight and feel better on the court."

What Simon did to Djokovic was to regularly slow down the pace from the backcourt, often hitting to a central position (in width, not depth), rather than the lines. But having taken pace off for some shots, he would abruptly unload a powerful, fast shot.

It's called mixing it up. Bowlers try this on batsman they can't get out.

Djokovic is comfortable with pace on the ball and is nonpareil in covering angled shots. Simon gave him neither. Djokovic, for once in a while, didn't know was coming.

Older tennis people with a remembrance of finals past would know that Simon's - ultimately unsuccessful - attempt to slay this serial winner had a famous historical parallel, just over 30 years ago.

In 1975, Jimmy Connors was the game's El Supremo - he's gone 99-4 the previous year. Jimmy hit the ball hard, fast and flat. If you belted it at him, he'd send it back with compound interest.

The late and great Arthur Ashe, then 32, devised a plan for that final: hit the ball softly, slice it, keep it low; don't give Connors anything to whack back.

Ashe won in four sets, in what was a popular upset - the considered Ashe was a champion of his fellow players' rights, Connors a pugnacious, solitary figure who had boycotted the USA Davis Cup team

Djokovic is no less affable than Murray, and Ashe moved Connors around more, so the comparison has some wrinkles. But the overriding point is this: Simon slowed the tempo against a counter-puncher and removed Djoker from his comfort zone, seemingly irritating him.

Simon says: "If some players can realise what I was trying to do to bring him there, it's good for them."

Simon doesn't have secret herbs and spices. Anyone can watch the match. Murray and Mauresmo surely will, if they haven't yet.

Borrowing elements of the Simon plan doesn't necessarily play to Murray's natural game. "The problem with Andy," said one British tennis insider. "is that he's at his best when he's aggressive."

The Brit insider also noted the Ashe v Connors and Simon v Djokovic parallels, calling this approach "passive aggressive" rather than plain aggressive. "It's a plan of attack based on taking the pace out."

Murray and Mauresmo might find what Simon says (what that match says) too radical to contemplate, since it would mean a major departure from what has brought the Scot success. Typically, players play to their own strengths.

Unfortunately for Murray, he's up against a player with similar strengths - return of serve, court coverage, defensive mastery - but simply better.

He could do worse than watch a clip of Ashe and Connors. If nothing else, it's inspirational.

True or false: Early 2016 tennis predictions

After a thrilling 2015 tennis season on both the men's and women's tours, we have a moment to catch our breath and look into the future. Will Serena maintain her WTA dominance? And will Andy Murray's momentum continue into the 2016 Slam season? Our experts weigh in on these issues and more.

Andy Murray will parlay his Davis Cup championship into at least one Grand Slam title in 2016.

Bodo: False. Winning the Davis Cup in 2010 was clearly a springboard for Novak Djokovic's three-Slam performance in 2011. The thing is, Andy Murray is not Djokovic, and he's not at a comparable stage of his career. The problem for Murray is he isn't the superior player at any of the majors, partly because he's a better three-set than five-set performer. Barring a major, unexpected upset or two at a Grand Slam event, Murray simply isn't consistently good enough to hammer his way through to the championship.

Garber: True. It's been a while since he won his two previous majors -- the 2012 US Open and 2013 Wimbledon -- but as his Davis Cup triumphs prove, he can still find the fire. Next year, he'll put a lot less energy into Davis Cup and more into the Grand Slams. I don't think it's a stretch to see him winning either Wimbledon or the US Open again.

Isaacson: True. It's as good a time as any, since Murray is physically fit, had as consistent a 2015 season as he ever has, and is riding some pretty decent momentum. He said he's gunning for the two Slam titles he hasn't yet won -- the Australian and French Opens -- and he was close in both in 2015, losing to Novak Djokovic twice (in the finals in Melbourne and semis in Paris). Fatherhood (in February) could inspire him. If he doesn't win one in 2016, it will be a disappointment for the world No. 2.

Novak Djokovic will win at least three of the big five events in 2016 (including the Olympics).

Bodo: True. Now that Djokovic has 10 majors, he'll be super motivated to catch Rafael Nadal's 14 and perhaps even Roger Federer's record 17. Time is on the 28-year-old Djokovic's side. Federer is 34. Nadal struggled through 2015 and didn't even make a major semifinal. Djokovic is 21-9 against his true generational rival, Murray, having prevailed in nine of their past 10 matches. And Djokovic is an overpowering 19-4 against two-time Slam winner Stan Wawrinka. Three of the big five events of 2016 will be on hard courts, including the Rio Olympics. Djokovic could win them all -- and more.

Garber: False. The past three times a man has won three of the four majors (Roger Federer in 2007, Rafael Nadal in 2010 and Djokovic in 2011), he followed that up by reaching three Grand Slam singles finals the following year -- and winning only one. The triple-Slam effort simply takes too much out of the body and mind. The Olympics make this one interesting; I can see a scenario in which Murray, Nadal and a surprise mystery guest (Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori, Grigor Dimitrov?) win three of the five big titles.

Isaacson: False. I want to say true, merely because of how much he looked to want payback after reluctantly playing the evil role to Fed's good in September's US Open final. I also want to say yes because he was so dominant in 2015. But if the Open showed us anything, it's that even Djokovic can be vulnerable at times, and with the Olympics thrown in, it's tough to imagine he will have the mental and physical stamina to pull off three of the big five.

Rafael Nadal is more likely than Roger Federer to win a Grand Slam in 2016.

Bodo: False. No disrespect to Nadal who's been down on his luck, but in 2015, he left Federer all alone on the "Stop Djokovic" bandwagon. Throw in Nadal's nagging health issues, ranging over time from bad knees to a sore back to a bad elbow to a bad wrist, and it's obvious his two priorities for the new year will be finding -- and maintaining -- his vanished consistency and remaining healthy. Sure, he could win the French Open for a 10th time, but based on what we saw in 2015, he will have enough trouble doing that -- never mind any of the other majors.

Garber: True. It was terrific to see Federer get the finals at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Barclays in London. But at age 34, he just doesn't have the stuff to take down an in-form Djokovic. Rafa had some pep in his step in London, and even though he failed to win a major for the first time in 11 years, he will rebound with his 10th French Open title next spring.

Isaacson: True. This is not to say that either Rafa or Fed will win a Slam in 2016; I don't think they will. But Nadal may be slightly more likely, if only because as much as 2015 seemed to signal the beginning of the end, he is not looking presently like a man who wants to retire very soon. He reached the finals in Beijing and Basel, beat Wawrinka and Murray in the ATP Finals round-robin, and is much healthier than he has been recently. A Slam in '16 is not inconceivable.

Serena Williams will end 2016 as the world No. 1.

Bodo: True. Serena Williams is due for a big letdown after her spectacular 2015. So what? The rest of her WTA peers amply demonstrated that none of them has the chops, or the game, to step in and dominate. That means Serena could have an off year and still end up No. 1. Her most dangerous challenger at the moment appears to be No. 3 Garbine Muguruza. But it's not at all certain that the 22-year-old has the consistency to play at an elite level week in, week out.

Garber: True. At the moment, Serena is nearly 3,900 points ahead of the No. 2-ranked Simona Halep. Even if she takes a predictable step backward from her wondrous 2015 season, Serena has enough of a cushion to stay at No. 1.

Isaacson: True. Virtually every time we count her out, she surprises us, and as far away from tennis as she seems to be right now, Serena still has the capability to hold onto that ranking, if nothing else. She has plenty of points to defend next year, but she also has a huge head start on the rest of the pack.

Venus Williams will finish 2016 in the top 10.

Bodo: True. Venus Williams had a great 2015, finishing No. 7. Expect more of the same in 2016. She's 35, but that's not an overwhelming handicap in today's game. The grind is easier for her to bear as long as her sister Serena is around. The two love playing doubles together. And the Olympics mean a lot to both Williams sisters. That will motivate Venus in the early part of 2016 because staying in the top eight will guarantee her critical seeding advantages. Her health could be the determining factor in her status.

Garber: False. While it was great to see Venus go 41-13 this year, win three titles and $2.4 million, and finish at No. 7, there are a handful of far younger players lurking just behind her. Karolina Pliskova, Timea Bacsinszky, Carla Suarez Navarro, Belinda Bencic and Madison Keys would love to vault over Venus. Plus, Caroline Wozniacki -- outside the top 15 for the first time in eight years -- is due for a better season.

Isaacson: True. This is a tough one because Venus popped back into the top 10 in 2015 for the first time in four years. It was no fluke in a year made up mostly of bad draws -- she was in Serena's half in every major -- and Venus finished the year with two titles in the China swing, and her best overall season since 2007. Even with the Karolina Pliskovas and Timea Bacsinszkys of women's tennis bearing down on the top 10, there is room for a motivated Venus to hang in.

Johanna Konta Joins Andy Murray And David Lloyd In Criticizing LTA

After Andy Murray and David Lloyd made their controversial comments about the Lawn Tennis Association, Britain’s top female, Johanna Konta, also made comments about the governing of British tennis. The Brit said that the LTA’s cuts in funding put her career in jeopardy.

Konta’s Move To Britain

Konta is a 24-year-old who was born in Sydney, Australia to Hungarian parents. In 2005, she moved to the UK. After representing Australia, her birth country, from 2008-April 2012. From May 2012 on, the 24-year-old has represented Great Britain.

Konta’s Rise

This year, the Brit has hit new heights, jumping over 100 spots into the top 50. After focusing on Challenger events for the first half of the year, she began to hit her stride just after her home championships at Wimbledon. After an early exit to Maria Sharapova at the All England Club, she went on to win titles in Granby and Vancouver to put her inside the top 100 for the first time.

She used that momentum to carry her through US Open qualifying. Impressive wins over Louisa Chirico, ninth-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza, and 18th-seeded Andrea Petkovic setup a round of 16 showdown with fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova. She lost 5-7, 3-6, but her run gave her a new found confidence to compete with the world’s elite.

After qualifying for the event Wuhan, she upset Petkovic once again. then defeated former world number one Victoria Azarenka. and current world number two Simona Halep. Her run ended with a three set loss to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals. She would go through qualifying for one more event in Linz where she lost in her second main draw match to American Madison Brengle.

Konta’s Quotes

Here’s what Konta had to say about the LTA, "If anyone's livelihood, career or dreams are jeopardised, I don't think that is ever a healthy position to be in," she told BBC Sport.

Konta also talked about the lack of people on the court, which is something Andy Murray brought up when he talked about the LTA, "Recently I've seen a lot of young kids around," Konta said. "But there are times when I think it is too quiet for such a magnificent facility, and it would be nice to see these courts filled with more players."

Pregnant Kim Sears supports Andy Murray at Davis Cup

Kim Sears looked thrilled as she watched her husband Andy Murray storm to victory at the Davis Cup on Sunday. The mum-to-be cheered and punched the air after Andy helped Great Britain to reach the final at the tournament for the first time in 37 years.

It was the third day in a row that Kim had supported her husband at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow along with Andy's family and friends. The 28-year-old, who is around four and a half months pregnant with her first child, kept any hint of a baby bump concealed in a loose fitting blue shirt and jeans, and clutched on to a Union Jack flag to show her support.

Kim Sears supported Andy Murray at the Davis Cup

Kim is a loyal supporter throughout Andy's tennis career, and can often be seen in the crowd alongside his mum Judy Murray. The tennis player recently revealed that the secret to their happy long-term relationship is partly down to the fact that they often spend time apart due to his career.

"I've found spending a bit of time apart isn't actually a bad thing," Andy told The Sun. "If you spend two or three weeks apart and then get to see each other, you appreciate it more.

"You spend six months with each other, then every single day you start arguing about little things. We don't have to travel with each other every single week to make it work."

Andy Murray has reached the final of the Davis Cup

He added: "When she comes, it's nice. It's normally at the end of a three or four-week trip. It breaks it up a little bit."

Kim has recently been working on a passion project of her own, after it was revealed she is "helping" her pet dog Maggie to "write" her own book, due for release in June. The book, entitled How to Look After Your Human: A Dog's Guide, explores how pets can bond with their human friends.

Fred Perry’s Davis Cup example can help Andy Murray over ATP finals

Andy Murray will agonise for another week before declaring if he will play in the ATP World Tour Finals in London just before the Davis Cup final against Belgium, which it was confirmed on Wednesday will be held on clay in Ghent on 27-29 November.

He said after winning his three matches in the semi-final victory over Australia in Glasgow at the weekend that, because a new back injury has flared, four days would not be enough for him to switch from the hard court of the O2 Arena to clay, but he did not expect the announcement to create such a stir.

The ATP, sponsors and fans who have bought tickets in anticipation of his appearing were taken by surprise and he immediately spoke with his advisers to review his end-of-season schedule. The odds are he will play in London.

Murray’s reluctance to decide quickly reflects the weight of importance he attaches to helping Great Britain win the competition for the first time since 1936, when Fred Perry won the last of four consecutive Davis Cups before turning professional. However, if Murray were looking for inspiration to double up, he might profit from the first of those four cup triumphs in 1933 – which broke a drought of 21 years.

The demands on time were even greater then, given slower modes of travel – although the physicality was a deal less intense. Great Britain won four European Zone ties on clay and grass that summer, against Spain, Finland, Italy and Czechoslovakia, losing only two singles, then beat Australia (conveniently included in the European zone because of their geographical isolation) in the zonal final at Wimbledon.

As Jon Henderson relates in his biography, The Last Champion: The Life of Fred Perry, Great Britain’s esteem in 1933 was wretchedly low the Davis Cup team described by the Daily Express as, “that poor, despised back number of lawn tennis”. They would not remain so for long.

Great Britain beat the Americans and Perry, who still had fitness issues, drew on reserves built up as the most rigorous trainer in the game to drag himself to the line for the title decider against France just four days later. In the second singles he beat Henri Cochet, driving the famed Frenchman into the dirt over five sets, then collapsing in the dressing room.Only a week later, with Perry and Bunny Austin to the fore, they beat the acknowledged masters of the day, the United States, in the semi-final on the clay of Roland Garros. Perry travelled late, after treatment to a shoulder injury, and had his final fitness test by hitting with Dan Maskell 48 hours before the tie.

If the similarities are beginning to sound eerily similar, the story of triumph for Perry and Great Britain on the dreaded foreign clay ought to lift the Scot’s spirits.

The physicality, tempo and attention to detail in the game has changed markedly, perhaps, but the demands of going to Ghent’s Flanders Expo to play on a drop-in clay court in November are not that far removed from those that confronted Perry and his team-mates in 1933. They prevailed – and went on to help Great Britain rule for another four years.

Milos Raonic waylaid by wonky back, exits U.S. Open

NEW YORK —Milos Raonic fought a noticeable back injury through two rounds of the U.S. Open, but he couldn’t pull off a third escape.

Overcast skies on Friday brought some relief from the blistering heat that contributed to a record number of mid-match retirements through two rounds of the U.S. Open. Two women and 12 men had to stop their matches, the most notable of which was American Jack Sock, who cramped so severely that he held to be carried off the court on Thursday. He was leading two sets to one at the time, but a 32C temperature, coupled with stifling humidity, did him in. The previous record for retirements in a Grand Slam was 10; this tournament easily surpassed that with 10 days of play still remaining.The 24-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., again unable to serve with his usual ridiculous velocity, went down in straight sets to 18th-seeded Feliciano Lopez on Friday in New York. The Spaniard broke the 10th-seeded Canadian three times — and had a whopping 13 break chances, unheard of against Raonic — on the way to a 6-2, 7-6, 6-3 win. Raonic only averaged 190 kilometres per hour on his first serve, about 16 km/h off a typical pace for him, and won 71% of his first-serve points, against a career average about 10 points higher. He said after his second-round win in New York that the back issue, which has bothered him since last month and is unrelated to an earlier foot injury, comes and goes. It was apparent that it was back on Friday, with Raonic labouring and seeking treatment during the match.

Andy Murray, who won a five-set match against France’s Adrian Mannarino in which his opponent noticeably flagged in the heat, said one way to cut down on the number of retirements would be to give first-round money to players who earn their way into the tournament but are not at their best health coming into it.

“I think the player that’s earned the right to be there in the first place, you give them the first-round prize money and you avoid people walking on the court for a few games,” Murray said. “It’s a waste of time for everyone.”

In that scenario, a player with a nagging injury pockets the US$39,500 prize money, but their spot would go to a player who didn’t qualify, who would only make money if they got through to the second round.

But Roger Federer was far less interested in such solutions to the mid-match retirement. His prescription basically amounted to, “Suck it up, muffin.”

“What I don’t understand,” said the five-time champion in New York, “we’ve been here in North America for some time. It’s not like, all of a sudden, hot. I mean, it was more on the warmer side, but it’s not like impossible, to be quite honest.”

“I think everybody should be well-prepared,” Federer said. And: “I think other players should be so fit that heat shouldn’t really matter at that point.”

And here I thought the Swiss were supposed to be diplomatic.

***

Italy’s Sara Errani offered another possible explanation for why some players are not feeling their best: air conditioning.

“In Europe, there’s not this much air conditioning,” Errani said after her Thursday match, as reported by The Associated Press. “Too much back and forth with the temperature,” she said. “You go outside, it’s hot. You come inside, it’s cold. Every time.” A USTA spokesman told the AP that there had been some complaints about the locker rooms and interview rooms being too cold, but that both were kept around 21C.

***

One of the small joys of a major tennis event are the utterly random questions that pop up in post-match press conferences. Because access to players, for most of the 1,000 or so journalists in Flushing Meadows, is limited to these sessions, and many of them are already working on a certain angle to a story, they have to ask their out-of-nowhere question when they get the chance. So, when Andy Murray just finished a five-set triumph on Thursday, a match in which he dropped the first two sets before roaring back, here was the first question posed to him: “Why are you wearing adidas shoes?”

(The short answer: the shoes made by his sponsor, Under Armour, were fine for grass courts but not yet ready for hard courts.)

Later, after Federer complete a straight-sets win, the first question was, suitably, about how he is playing this year relatively to past years. The second question: “Would you vote for Marcelo Rios if you were a voter for the Hall of Fame?”

After saying that he really didn’t know what the criteria was, Federer said Rios, the 39-year-old Chilean who was briefly the top-ranked player in the world, “was one of my favourite players to watch, so I would vote yes.”

Andy Murray looks to vitamin C not tea and sympathy against Thomaz Bellucci

Andy Murray expects to have to deal with his head cold at least until the fourth round of the US Open – if he gets past the 30th seed, Thomaz Bellucci, on Saturday – and he is not looking for sympathy.

“The only thing I’ve taken is vitamin C,” he said after spluttering through five tough sets against Adrian Mannarino on Thursday night and wary of any banned substances lurking in other medications.

“The doctors that are here and part of the Tour can prescribe you stuff that’s fine but there’s no real cure. Hopefully it takes three or four days before it’s out of the system. That’s one of the things about being an athlete. It’s survival of the fittest. There’s not much you can take.”

He can take heart from another courageous fightback, the eighth time in his career he has won after losing the first two sets. Critics who say he played poorly in the first hour and a half are being a bit harsh – although he did make an unholy mess of surrendering the second set – because Mannarino hit a level suited to the occasion.

When lower-ranked players are thrown into big matches they invariably have the talent but not always the self-belief to express it for more than a few points here and there or the extra fitness or sheer determination, sometimes, to survive a serious examination of their tennis, especially over five sets. It is why they never make the breakthrough their early promise holds out for them.

It is why Richard Gasquet, rated as promising as Rafael Nadal when they were teenagers, probably will never win a major. It is why Murray and Novak Djokovic, contemporaries of both of those players, have done.

On Saturday, Murray faces another talented player in Bellucci, who began the year ranked 64 in the world, dipped as low as 87 in March and comes to New York on a steady rise to 30, only nine places adrift of his career best. So he represents danger, as James Ward discovered in the first round.

Murray has been around long enough to dismiss thoughts of an easy win, especially as he is struggling to shake off the cold virus that has hit the locker room. Plus, the conditions here are brutal.

When Jack Sock staggered to a halt with cramp while trying to serve at the start of the fourth set against the Belgian Ruben Bemelmans, then collapsed semi-conscious in front of shocked fans on Thursday afternoon, the physical demands of modern tennis were laid bare for all to see. He was the 13th player to quit the tournament through illness or injury, in only four days.

Sock, a strong young player ranked 28 in the world – who recovered fully after treatment – is as fit as most players on the Tour. Few are fitter than Murray – which is why he is confident of getting through his illness and past Bellucci.

“I didn’t drop that much weight in the match [against Mannarino],” he said. “Over the last few years I’ve got much better at knowing how much I need to drink in certain heat and conditions. I weigh myself before and after every single match. I didn’t drop loads of weight, which is a good thing.”

As for Bellucci, another left-hander, Murray said: “I played Bellucci once, in Madrid. We were at altitude there. He plays well on the clay but I think he plays even better at altitude. I don’t know if he grew up at altitude but he likes it when the conditions are pretty lively, like they are here. He’s obviously playing well.”

What impressed about Murray after surviving such a match that came close to pitching him out of the tournament was his upbeat, almost lighthearted, mood afterwards. Long gone are the post-match blues that dragged his spirit down to dangerously low levels; marriage and impending fatherhood have obviously brought him inner calm.

He was not even particularly riled when Mannarino slammed a full-force volley into his back. “When I got hit with the ball, I wasn’t angry,” he said. “That’s a legitimate play and it happens. I almost deserve that for the bad volley that gave him the chance to do that. When he hit the ball and it was pretty close to my head after the point had finished, I didn’t like that so much.”

Murray, who took unnecessary abuse for his support of Scottish independence earlier this year, has found a new cause, the World Wildlife Fund, and wears their badge on his shirt.

“It’s quite a nice thing to do, helping a charity. I love animals. I’ve spoken with Matt [Gentry, his business adviser] about doing stuff for charities. I care as much about animals as I do about human beings. Some people find that funny, I don’t find it funny. I just think that we’re all on this planet together and it’s horrible when you see what happens to some animals that are almost extinct. There was that story about Cecil the lion a few weeks ago. It’s horrible. Anything you can do to help. They don’t have a voice, human beings do. It’s nice to try to help with that.

“The thing with animals is you have to kind of accept things. I love my dogs. You can teach them to behave. But if they decide by themselves that they’re going to be naughty, you just have to accept that, whereas with people, it’s a lot easier to discipline them and tell them the difference between right and wrong.”

Warming to the subject – when most other players might have rushed for the late-night courtesy car back to a hotel – Murray shared a childhood episode that, well, read it for yourself …

“I grew up with animals. My family always had dogs. I had a couple of hamsters when I was a kid. The first one that I had was called Whisky. I lost him down the back of a sink. You know how in a house you would have just a sink in a bedroom? I wrapped a duvet round the back of the sink to stop the hamster from getting in there. I don’t know how it managed to get under the duvet.

“I used to just let it out and run around. It got behind the sink and went under the floorboards. I left a mousetrap, not one that would kill but one that would catch it if it came out of the floorboards. I woke up the next morning, the bit of cheese was gone, the mousetrap hadn’t worked. It had obviously got up there and got the food – and that was that.”