Murray, at Home, Expects to Do Well in London

Written by: Staff on 16th November 2011

BNP Paribas 2011 Masters Tennis Tournament

Murray, at Home, Expects to Do Well in London

Andy Murray of Britain returns the ball to Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic during their quarter-finals match at the BNP Paribas 2011 Masters Tennis tournament in Paris, France, 11 November 2011. EPA/HORACIO VILLALOBOS |

The world’s top eight tennis stars are arriving in London – Novak Djokovic landed last night and Rafael Nadal is due to check in later today – but Andy Murray maintains home advantage will be a big plus for him in his bid to win the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Murray has been drawn in the same round-robin group as world no.1 Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych, the player who ended his 17 match unbeaten run in last Friday BNP Paribas Masters quarter final at Paris’ Bercy. Last year’s semi-finalist at the London 02 Arena, he will begin his 2011 campaign in the Monday afternoon session against Spain’s David Ferrer.

Roger Federer, defending champion and winner both in Paris and a week earlier in Basel, is grouped with Nadal, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Mardy Fish.

And Murray, who lost one of the best matches of last year in the semi-final to Nadal is hoping added home support after his recent good run will provide added impetus to his title bid. “I find it strange that at Wimbledon every year, almost every day I get asked about the stress and pressure of playing in front of a home crowd,” he said.

“In every other sport, the home team is thought to have the advantage. So why should it be a problem for me? I’ve never felt it, never made it an excuse, and it’s not going to go away, so deal with it.

“I think we British as a nation expect to win and when we don’t we look for these big reasons. Why did Tim Henman not win Wimbledon? Why has Andy Murray not won Wimbledon? Well, sometimes you’re not quite good enough.

I can’t say exactly why it hasn’t happened for me there, but I’ll tell you what isn’t the reason: the pressure of the people and the pressure of the media.”

Murray reported a full bill of health following a strenuous couple of months following his semi-final finish or better in all four Grand Slam events this year and looked forward to the London action when he said: “There are obviously no easy matches as it’s only the Top Eight players in the world playing. That’s what is so unique about this tournament. You have to be on top of your game from the very first match.

“I’ve been happy with my form coming into the tournament. I’ve got some great memories from my run to the semi-finals last year, hopefully I can have a strong finish to the season and go even further this time around.”

“DAILY TENNIS NEWS WIRE”

Topics: Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer