Pressure will not faze me, says Murray
BRITISH No1 Andy Murray insists he is not worried about the added pressure of playing in front of his home fans at Wimbledon this year.
The Scot arrives at SW19 with a career-high ranking of three and many believe he’s in good shape to become the first Briton to lift his home trophy since Fred Perry in 1936.
Murray, who kicked off his grass court season with a narrow doubles win at the Queen’s Club last night, will recall the hype which surrounded home favourites Tim Henman and Greg Rudeski in recent years, but the fast-maturing 22-year-old insists he will not be fazed.
“Everyone kind of goes on the whole time about the extra pressure and why we haven’t had any champions but I don’t really buy into all that,” he said. “I think the support makes a huge difference to the way we perform and I try to do the same thing at Wimbledon. Once you step on the court, you’re just playing tennis.”
Murray delighted fans at Queen’s after he and partner Lleyton Hewitt fought back to beat Americans Andy Roddick and Rajeev Ram 3-6, 6-3, 12-10 to reach the second round of the Aegon Championships. Tomorrow he makes history by becoming the first British top seed to play at Queen’s when he opens his singles account against Italian Andreas Seppi.
Meanwhile, 15-year-old Junior Girls’ Singles champion Laura Robson will become the youngest player to compete at Wimbledon since Martina Hingis in 1995 after the Lawn Tennis Association invoked a special clause to hand her a wildcard.