Fired-up Andy Murray backed to ‘be a force to be reckoned with’ on his ‘own turf’ at Wimbledon

Shahida Jacobs 14 Feb 2023 8:49 AM

The fact that Andy Murray “wants to prove he still has it” could well inspire him to do well “on his own turf” at Wimbledon this year, according to Olympic gold medallist Monica Puig.

Although he exited the Australian Open in the third round last month, three-time Grand Slam winner Murray enjoyed a fine run at Melbourne Park with many believing his heroics were the highlight of the tournament.

He spent more than 14 hours on court in his three matches as he beat 13th seed Matteo Berrettini and local hope Thanasi Kokkinakis in five sets before falling to Roberto Bautista Agut in four sets.

The fact that the 35-year-old can battle for more than 14 hours after being written off a few years ago following his hip struggles is nothing short of a miracle.

Puig, who like Murray won gold in the singles at the 2016 Rio Games, explained why Murray keeps coming up with the goods.

“I feel that Andy has something to prove every time he goes on the court because the amount of times people have counted him out, said he was never going to play again, said that physically he’s not going to endure the rigours of professional tennis again,” the Puerto Rican told Sky Sports.

“Having something to prove works for some people and others it doesn’t, but it definitely works for him.

“I believe he crossed paths with one of the doctors who said that he was never going to be able to play at this level again and he was like ‘aha!’ so it’s like he wants to prove he still has it, that he’s still got it and he’s proving that day in day out and that goes to show that hard work does pay off.

“It doesn’t matter about your level – how you feel physically. You put in the work and you will see the rewards afterwards and I feel that he is doing that really well.

“We do not know how many more years he’s going to play but he’s making every moment that he steps onto the court count.

“He definitely has a very strong character and I feel that he is mentally very, very tough. He won two Olympic gold medals in a row, he won the US Open and he won Wimbledon twice.

“Being a Brit and winning Wimbledon is huge. It’s very tough for a lot of players to succeed and to play well in their own country and he did that and it just kind of fuelled that fire.”

Murray’s big goal during any season is usually Wimbledon and he hasn’t really enjoyed a deep run on his “own turf” since returning from career-saving hip surgery.

Last year he lost in the second round and in 2021 he reached the third round while he missed the previous two editions.

“Murray’s won Wimbledon before. He has that on his side,” Puig said. “The Brits tend to do very well on their own turf.

“A lot of people do not like the grass. I’ve heard it thousands of times before – ‘I do not like playing on this surface’ because it’s very hard and there are not a lot of warm-up events beforehand. In order for you to really get into your rhythm you need to adapt and you need time on a surface but grass just does not give you that.

“That’s one of the advantages he has and it’s also an advantage that points are not as long as on a hard court or a clay court so he can make those shorter points count. He looks comfortable coming into the net and he knows what to do.

“Yes, he can be a force to be reckoned with.”