Murray Home Advantage “HUGE”

Written by: Staff on 24th June 2012

Murray Home Advantage "HUGE"

epa03279466 Andy Murray of Britain in action during a training session for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London, Britain, 24 June 2012. EPA/JONATHAN BRADY |

By: Iain Boyd

(Original Stpry: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/06/26/Wimbledon-Preview-Murray-Home-Advantage.aspx)

British No. 1 Andy Murray insists home advantage could be just what he needs to take the next step in his career and win a grand slam title, when the three-time Wimbledon semi-finalist begins his campaign on Tuesday.

Fourth seed Murray has competed in three Grand Slam finals and is yet to win one, falling to Federer at the 2008 US Open and the 2010 Australian Open and to Djokovic in the 2011 Melbourne final. However, Murray believes the expectation at a home grand slam can work to his advantage.

“I think in all sports playing at home is viewed as being a huge advantage, whereas for some reason when it comes to Wimbledon everyone thinks it’s a bad thing. There’s more pressure on you and it doesn’t help,” said Murray. “But I haven’t really found it that way. When I’ve played here, I’ve enjoyed the challenge, I’ve enjoyed playing in front of a passionate crowd, and it’s helped me.”

Despite concerns over his recent form, having lost to Nicolas Mahut in the first round at the Aegon Championships, Murray is confident this will have no bearing on his overall performance at The All England Club.

“I always feel good going into the slams, especially the last few years, because that’s what I’ve been trying to peak for and trying to play my best tennis at,” said Murray. “Sometimes I might not have played my best in other tournaments because of it.”

Expectations and form aside, the Scot has a tough draw and opens against former World No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko and could come across big-serving Ivo Karlovic in the second round. No. 32 seed Kevin Anderson, improving Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and former semi-finalist Marcos Baghdatis are all potential third-round opponents for Murray.

“Yeah, it will be tough. He was in the top four or five players for a number years,” said Murray of Davydenko. “He’s won some big events. He’s won the [Barclays ATP World] Tour Finals. He’s won Masters Series. He hasn’t played so well this year, but he has a lot of experience and has been a top player for a lot of years.”

World No. 4 Murray, however, faces an uphill task if he is to become the first British player to win a grand slam since Fred Perry in 1936. Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer have won 31 of the past 32 majors between them. Only Juan Martin del Potro has managed to break their stranglehold, claiming the 2009 US Open title. A potential semi-final match up against Nadal, who has beaten Murray in his past two Wimbledon semi-finals, only highlights the enormity of the task.

Yet Murray is confident he can draw from those semi-finals along with an encouraging performance at the Australian Open this year, where he led World No. 1 Novak Djokovic by two-sets-to-one in their semi-final before the Serb triumphed 7-5 in the fifth.

“We’ll see when the tournament starts,” he said. “Practice has been good. I’ve trained well. Each day I’ve felt a bit better on the grass. Hopefully I’ll feel good on Tuesday.”

Topics: Andy Murray, British tennis news, Mahut, Murray, Roger Federer, The All England Club, Wimbledon

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