HENMAN BACKS MURRAY

The former British tennis star, Tim Henman, has said that Andy Murray has a great chance of clinching his first ever Wimbledon title this year.

Murray has been out of tennis since the last few weeks. He withdrew his name from the ongoing French Open because of his back injury.

However, the world no. 2 has recovered from that injury now and has started training.  He is expected to make his comeback by playing in the upcoming AEGON Championships.

When asked about Murray’s chances in the Wimbledon Championships, Henman said, “I think he has a great chance this year. He had shown exceptional temperament last year, but, he had to face one of the all time greats in the final and he couldn’t get better of him. But, he has matured a lot after that defeat and this year, I would back him to go all the way.”

When asked if playing in front of the home crowd puts extra pressure on the player, Henman said, “Yes, it does. But, Murray is someone who is mentally very tough. So, he can soak up that pressure and he had shown that last year by making it to the title round.”

When asked about Murray’s decision of withdrawing from the French Open, Henman said, “I think it was the right decision. If he was not feeling 100% fit, there was no point going into the tournament. It was a much better option to rest and be fully prepared for the Wimbledon championships.”

When asked about the poor performance of the other British players in the Grand Slams, Henman said, “Honestly speaking, I am surprised by that. There are outstanding facilities available in UK for the young players and yet, only a few of them are progressing well. It’s disappointing to see.”

In the French Open, three British female tennis players were participating in the singles competition namely Laura Robson, Heather Watson and Elena Baltacha. All of them got knocked out from the opening round.

[HL] Steffi Graf vs. Monica Seles 1992 Wimbledon [F]

Wimbledon Winners Video clip Rating: 5 / five

Roger Federer First Grand Slam Title – Wimbledon 2003

Wimbledon Winners Video clip Rating: five / five

MURRAY MAKES IT THROUGH

Andy Murray has defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters. Murray won the match in the straight sets by 6-1, 6-4. The match was done and dusted in just 72 minutes.

Murray had been practicing hard here at Monte Carlo since the last few days. The Scot reckons that he doesn’t play that well on clay courts, but, his performance in this match doesn’t suggest that. He hardly played a loose shot against Vasselin.

Murray has been given the second seed in this tournament. He had become the no. 2 player in the world by winning the Sony Open a few weeks ago. But, if he gets knocked out of Monte Carlo Masters before the quarter finals, he will again slip behind Roger Federer in the world rankings.

After winning the match against Vasselin, Murray said, “I managed to take a lead of 4-0 in the first set and that helped. Edouard was nervous initially and was not moving across quickly, but, in the second set, he began playing well.”

“He was playing the return shots well in the second set. I just tried to stay positive and that worked. It’s really a fine beginning.”

In the opening set, Murray got breakthroughs in the 2^nd and the 4^th game and got ahead by 4-0. But, Vasselin broke back in the 5^th game to make the score 4-1.

The Frenchman couldn’t win any more game in the set. In the 6^th game, he dropped his serve again and then, Murray served out the 7^th game to win the set.

In the second set, Murray got a breakthrough in the 3^rd game to take a lead of 2-1.  He won his remaining service games after that and sealed the match.

Wimbledon 1999 Steffi Graf – Venus Williams

Wimbledon Winners Video clip Rating: five / five

MURRAY BEATS BERLOCQ

Andy Murray has defeated Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open. Murray won the match in the straight sets by 7-6 (7/4), 6-4. This win took Murray into the quarter final round of the event.

During the match, Murray looked upset with loud noise made by Berlocq. He talked to the umpire about it and he mentioned it in his post match interview as well.

Talking to the reporters, Murray said, “That was absolutely hilarious. He was making a very loud noise and that was disturbing me. I have never seen a player grunting like that.”

“It was certainly a difficult match. I had to fight hard for points especially in that opening set. He was very good on his serve and he kept me under pressure in the entire set.”

“Then, in the second set, I played better. I created a lot of chances. However, it still got a bit close at the end.”

In the first set, Murray was looking a bit out of touch. His serve was broken in the third game and he got trailed by 1-2. He had a chance to level the scores as he got a breakpoint in the next game. But, he couldn’t cash on that and Berlocq managed to increase his lead to 3-1 by holding his serve.

Murray again got a couple of breakpoints in the 6^th game and this time, he didn’t miss out. He got the breakthrough and equalized the scores.

Murray dropped his serve again in the 9^th game which took him down by 4-5. However, he broke back immediately and levelled the scores again.

The next two games went with the serve and that took the set into the tie breaker. In the tie breaker, Berlocq didn’t play that efficiently and ended up losing the set.

In the second set, both the players got one breakthrough each in the first four games and the score was levelled at 2-2 at the end of the 4^th game.

Murray got another breakthrough in the 7^th game to get ahead by 4-3 and this time, he didn’t let Berlocq bounce back. He held all his remaining serves after that and won the match.

In the quarter final, Murray will take on Berlocq’s compatriot Juan Martin Del Potro.