Djokovic Thinks Murray Can Handle The Wimbledon Pressure

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 25th June 2013

Djokovic Thinks Murray Can Handle The Wimbledon Pressure

epa03759453 Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates a point against Florian Mayer of Germany during their first round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 25 June 2013. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Top seed Novak Djokovic has his own Wimbledon campaign to deal with, but believes that home hero Andy Murray can handle the weight of pressure which is bearing down on him as the grand slam begins.

Murray has a Wimbledon final from 2012 to live up to and showed he’s ready for the highlight fortnight of the grass campaign as he won the Queen’s title last weekend. The Scottish Olympic champion also has his only grand slam title from last autumn’s US Open to give him an added boost for the hostilities at the All England club.

Djokovic believes that this rival’s success over Roger Federer for the Olympic gold last summer will help him in over the upcoming high-pressure fortnight. “The Olympic Games in London were as strong as any grand slam, everyone played except Rafa Nadal,” Djokovic told British media at a pre-Wimbledon exhibition. “I think he dealt with the pressure really well over the last few years, especially last year.

“The Games was a very strong tournament and was very intense. There was that extra pressure on everybody because we were not playing for ourselves we were playing for our country. No other tournament can match that sensation.

“Murray has always had pressure playing at Wimbledon from media and from the people. Obviously Britain looks for a champion for many years at Wimbledon and he is the biggest hope. He got very close last year and I think he likes it, he has learned to play under pressure – it is a part of our sport.”

And for his own chances at the All England Club, Djokovic is also quite optimistic. “This is the grand slam I always dreamed of winning, it was the highlight of my career. I love playing in Wimbledon – the grass is the most special surface in our sport.

“Hopefully I can bounce back from that (French Open semi-final) defeat to Nadal in Paris. A loss is a loss and of course it hurts, but the next day you wake up to a new day and you have to stand up and work and get stronger.”