Wimbledon - Murray: I'm ready to win
Eurosport - Tue, 23 Jun 19:36:00 2009
Andy Murray believes he is ready to make Wimbledon history by becoming the first British man to win the grass-court Grand Slam for 73 years.
Murray starts his bid to emulate Fred Perry's 1936 triumph when he faces America's Robert Kendrick on Tuesday and the Scot is beginning to feel like this could be his year.
In the space of 12 months, Murray has gone from a pretender to a serious contender for all the major titles.
His last Wimbledon appearance was a brutal lesson in the harsh realities of life at the top as Rafael Nadal bludgeoned him into submission over three brutal sets in the quarter-finals.
That defeat, coming so soon after a dramatic fourth round victory over Richard Gasquet, was a hammer blow to Murray's pride. But the 22-year-old simply ramped up his fitness regime to help match Nadal's physical power and Roger Federer's sublime all-court game.
The results have been eye-catching. Murray has risen to third in the world rankings on the back of five ATP Tour titles this year, including his first grass-court victory at Queen's two weeks ago.
His deadly accurate serve and astute ground-strokes have already claimed Nadal and Federer's scalps this year so, understandably, Murray is quietly confident of enjoying a fortnight to remember in south-west London.
"I feel like I'm better equipped to win a Grand Slam this year than I was last year," he said. "I have a chance of winning, but I understand how difficult that is to do.
"I'd obviously love to win here. I enjoy playing on grass and I love playing at Wimbledon.
"Like I said, I feel like I'm ready to win a Grand Slam now, whereas last year I might not have been. But I understand how difficult it is. It's not an easy thing to do.
"Federer's made the last six finals of Wimbledon and he's the big favorite going into the tournament.
"I've never won a Grand Slam before but I think I've got a chance of doing it here.
"I need to play my best tennis ever to do it. It's not like it's gonna come easily. Slams don't come easily, and I'm sure the guys that have won them will tell you that. I understand how big a challenge it is."
Murray's cause would be helped if he can harness the support of the Wimbledon crowd, who have never embraced the Scot with anything like the passion they showed for Tim Henman.
With 'Hen-mania' firmly consigned to the history books, Murray is the only hope of a British success story, yet his sometimes surly demeanour earned him few fans at his first few Wimbledons.
He is a far more engaging character now however. Last year's victory over Gasquet was the first occasion when the crowd really got behind him and he is hoping for more of the same this year.
"I did watch quite a few of Tim's matches the last few years of his career and the support was great," Murray said. "Anytime you can play in front of a home crowd in any sport it is a huge advantage.
"In football and basketball, home court or playing a home match is huge. I view tennis as being the same thing. You've got 15,000 people behind you here.
"Tim, I'm sure, played some of the best tennis of his career here. I think the crowd had something to do with that."
Murray's path to the final looks far less daunting now defending champion Nadal has pulled out with knee tendinitis as the pair were due to meet in the semi-finals.
Even a potential final with five-time champion Federer would hold few fears for Murray, who leads their career meetings 6-2. But the Scot has no intention of getting ahead of himself.
For now Kendrick is the only player he is worried about.
"He has a big game. He plays very aggressive and takes a lot of chances so there's no chance of me underestimating him," Murray said.
Related Stories
This site is Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! and Eurosport. All rights reserved.
- Terms of Service
- Updated Privacy Policy
- Copyright/IP Policy
- Remarks and Suggestions
- Corporate info
- Jobs at Eurosport
Notice: We collect personal information on this site. To learn more about how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy.
Comment 5 - 24 of 84
Oooh jealous @#$% LOL
And for what he said about England LOL
As if all english men support the scottish football team, we are rivals and thats the way it goes kids, it's a good laugh, I think it's normal to not want your RIVAL to win, no worries these childish words mean nothing compared to the skill of Murray and the support he has ffrom real English tennis fans, These kids here, making these annoying comments will never go to watch tennis and probably dont even care, they just want to show us how under-educated and immature they are.
Murray is the best British player ever, The best Scottish player ever, and soon to be the BEST player ever, deal with it children, we win, you lose !!
Another article (close to the class of Simon Reed's articles).
What about Robert Kendrick? What does he believe, how does he feel before the match? Is he ready to beat Murray as well as Murray is ready to be a Wimbledon Champion 7 matches from now?
Articles on Eurosport are narrow and heavily concentrated on either the writers' extremely subjective point of view or what the "big" stars think, want, expect, do etcetera...
Kendrick has two mentions:
[Quote] Murray starts his bid to emulate Fred Perry's 1936 triumph when he faces America's Robert Kendrick on Tuesday and the Scot is beginning to feel like this could be his year. [Eof Quote]
[Quote] For now Kendrick is the only player he is worried about (Again, this is related to Murray). [Eof Quote]
Murray will say that he is better equipped now (compared to before) a hundred more times in the future, if he doesn't make it and so will Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and all the other toptenners as long as they don't make it. All that is a bore to read week after week. It's simply nonsense.
I could of course choose to ignore reading these articles, but I have the right to expect professional articles written by professionals. Yes, this article is not about Kendrick, it is about Murray (but that is just the problem).
So, now, what about Kendrick and all the other in similar positions? Let us know. They are not redundant cardboard players, they are truly living real-time tennis players.
How can anyone in their right mind state that Murray's an average player? He's beaten Fed and Rafa, has won most titles and most matches with only a few losses and risen to no.3. Be sensible and stop the arrogance and hatred saying he WILL never win a slam. He's very good. He has at least as much chance as anybody else. This from a Federer fan.
SCOTTISH T W A T WILL NEVER WIN A GRAND SLAM.
THATS A FACT.
Muppets lol
Average at No.3, dont be jealous girls, grab those handbags swing those hips !!
God you make me feel superior, Like murray is !!
Murray never said he is going to win wimbledon, Eurosport stop making up things please.
Prediction: Andrew Murray will NEVER win any grand slam event.
He's British now...if he gets knocked out...watch how fast he'll be called a Scot again!
WHY SOULD WE WANT MURRAY 2 WIN AFTER WHAT HE SAID ABOUT THE ENGLISH COME ON FEDERRER MURRAY YOUR A JOKE
After watching him last year and his new improved physique, there is no doubt in my mind that Murray will wipe the floor with all the other competition in wimbledon !
Go for it Andy !!!!!!!
You'd think BRITS would get behind a BRITISH player, not insult him and disrespect. What the hell is wrong with this stupid country. Come on Andy!
this british stupid boy Murry is rubish.. he can't play well he is just average player
Comment # 9
Is that the same Roddick that Murray beat at Wimbledon in 2006 and has an overall winning record against?
MURRAY NEVER WIN A GRAND SLAM.....COME ON FEDERER..MAKE IT 15th...
Go on Andy! This is it. With Nadal out, Andy can use his youthfulness to out run Federer!
Please..don't be aroggant !!! I think you can not beat Roddick here. Roddick 2 times finalist, and you ???
No chance. Murray will never win a grand slam.
he is not good enough!! anyway good luck Murray!
All this was said before in an article a few days ago. Why present it as new? However, good luck to Murray
I'm sure that is true for everyone else who is at Wimbledon, im so sick and tired of the British media you end up not wanting Andy to win because they make it out his going to cake walk and that his already in the final, Andy said said last people that think just because Nadal is not that tha means i'm in the final are being dirspectgul to the other players and he is spot on these other players don't just come to make the number they come becuase they all want to win, question is can they put to gether 7 winning matches if they can they can have the trophy and that question is the same for Andy Muray, Its not that he can't but its that everyone else wants just as much as he does sot eh media shouldnt't sidline them because they will be shocked. I'll be watching Andy and rooting for him today
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account