Andy Murray will again carry the hopes of a nation into this year's
Wimbledon Championships, but insists the hullabaloo will not derail him
in his quest for a first grand slam success.
The world number
four is realistically Britain's only contender for singles glory,
following in the footsteps of the now-retired Tim Henman, who never
made it to the final but kept the British public both entertained and
exasperated with several near-misses.
"Murray Mania" will again
grip SW19 when the third grand slam event of the tennis season begins
on June 21, but the 23-year-old Scotsman told CNN's Open Court that the
pressure does not bother him.
"Honestly I have loved it the last
few years, I don't know if in three or four years time that might
change. But no, the last few years, I have really enjoyed it," he said.
Murray begins the defense of his AEGON Championships crown at
London's Queen's Club on Tuesday in one of the traditional Wimbledon
warm-up events.
He said the period in between the end of that
tournament this Sunday and the start of the grand slam is actually the
most difficult.
"There's people following you everywhere,
photographers, journalists they come to your house, it's very difficult
to get away from that side of things," he said.
"You're asked a lot of questions. Not necessarily tennis questions, sort of like an interrogation into your life. It's tough.
"But
once the tournament starts, you just get into the routine. The pressure
is still there and you feel it when you are on the court, but it's not
as bad as people might think."
Murray reached the semifinals of
Wimbledon last year, losing to eventual runner-up Andy Roddick, but is
under no illusions that his task will be any easier this season.
"Right
now it is very difficult, you've got the best grass-court player ever
currently in [Roger] Federer and probably the best player of all time.
"And
Rafa [Nadal] might go on to be the second best player of all time, if
not surpass what Roger has done, so it is a very difficult time in
tennis and it's important that I understand that."
Stepping up to a different level
So
has Murray rehearsed his winning lines should he become the first
British man since the legendary Fred Perry in 1936 to win a grand slam ?
"Yeah,
I think it will be very emotional, all the years you've worked, all the
sacrifices that you've made will feel like it's all worth it," he said.
"I know what's like to win a smaller event, it still feels
great, but Wimbledon or the U.S. Open is kind of on a different level
and I'm hoping one day that I'll be able to do that."
Murray has
reached the final of two grand slams, losing in straight sets to
Federer in the 2008 U.S. Open and to the Swiss maestro at the
Australian Open earlier this year.
His performances since
Melbourne have been less than spectacular, and he is coming off a
disappointing fourth-round defeat at the French Open to Tomas Berdych,
but Murray is as confident as he can be that Wimbledon glory is in his
grasp.
"I know it's a tough task, but I was close last year.
I've worked hard again and so hopefully I can give myself the
opportunity to do it this year."
A long learning process
Murray
started tennis at the tender age of four, mentored by his mother Judy,
an accomplished player herself, but always remembers the "sacrifices"
he had to make when moving to train in the Spanish city of Barcelona in
his early teens.
It paid off with victory in the juniors at the
U.S. Open when he was 17, and it was not long before he was mixing it
with elite of the world game on the ATP Tour.
Murray initially
had the reputation of being something of a "hot head" on court, but
with a more mature approach has channeled his aggression to more
positive effect.
"I still hate losing now, but once you start to
play on the tour you know only one person wins every week. You don't
learn to accept losing, all the players want to win every match they
play, but you learn how to deal with it a lot better," he said.
He
will be hoping he does not have to deal with defeat at either Queen's
or Wimbledon and cement his place in tennis history as the player to
end Britain's grand slam drought.
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