Murray: I still need to raise my game
ANDY MURRAY accepts he is going to have to up his game if he is to end Britain’s 74-year wait for a Wimbledon champion.
The British No1 is still yet to drop a set in this year’s tournament ahead of this afternoon’s fourth-round clash with big-serving American Sam Querrey.
But the fourth seed knows there is still room for improvement if he is to recover from his shaky start to 2010 and land a dream first Grand Slam. “The start has been very good and something that I needed for the confidence,” Murray said. “But I did feel I wasn’t too far away from playing very good tennis again.
“I just needed to put more work in, and I did that the week before. So that definitely helped me going into the tournament with my belief.
“It’s obviously showed in the first few matches. But I’m going to have to play better next week if I want to go all the way.”
While Murray is relatively fresh ahead of his clash with the Queen’s Club champion, many of his rivals – notably Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – have struggled.
Federer was taken to five sets by little-known Alejandro Falla in the first round, while Nadal has twice been taken the distance in his three matches so far.
Both are also in action this afternoon with six-time champion Federer taking on Austrian 16th seed Jurgen Melzer on Centre Court, while world No1 Nadal takes on Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu on Court One.
And Murray believes form in the early rounds has little bearing on the second week.
“It’s kind of irrelevant, it’s different obviously if they lose the matches but when they come through, you are always expecting them to play well, and they will next week, that is for sure,” he added.
ORDER OF PLAY | TODAY
CENTRE COURT
R Federer (Swi) (1) v J Melzer (Aus) (16)
S Williams (USA) (1) v M Sharapova (Rus) (16)
S Querrey (USA) (18) v A Murray (GB) (4)
COURT ONE
K Clijsters (Bel) (8) v J Henin (Bel) (17)
N Djokovic (Ser) (3) v L Hewitt (Aus) (15)
J-P Mathieu (Fra) v R Nadal (Spa) (2)