Andy Murray ‘ready to do some damage’ at Wimbledon

Shahida Jacobs 04 Jul 2023 10:34 AM

A delighted Andy Murray

Andy Murray described himself as “one of the best grass-court players in the world” and there is no reason why he can’t have a deep run at Wimbledon this year, according to Barbara Schett .

This year marks a decade since Murray ended Great Britain’s drought for a men’s singles trophy winner at Wimbledon as back in 2013 he defeated Novak Djokovic in the final before winning a second title in 2016.

However, the former world No 1 has failed to reach the business end of the tournament since undergoing career-saving hip surgery as he made it the third round in 2021 and exited in the second round last year.

On the back of solid build-up to this year’s grass-court Grand Slam that saw him win ATP Challenger Tour titles at Surbiton and Nottingham, there are high hopes he will finally make the second week.

“I believe I’m one of the best grass-court players in the world and I’m physically feeling really good,” Murray said ahead of Wimbledon. “I prepared well so there’s no reason why I can’t have a good tournament.”

He added: “I want to go out there and perform at a level that I’m happy with. I do feel like I’m in a really, really good position to do that. I have the experience at this tournament. There’s only one player in the draw that has more experience of playing here than me, which is Novak Djokovic.”

Murray has a 60–12 (83%) record at Wimbledon compared to seven-time winner Djokovic’s 86–10 (90%).

The two-time champion will kick off his 2023 campaign against fellow Brit Ryan Peniston on Centre Court on Tuesday afternoon and former Austrian player Schett feels everything is pointing to a good campaign for the 36-year-old.

“I’m sure the fans are going to be absolutely beside themselves being able to watch him play once again, he’s highly motivated and I think he’s very ready to do some damage,” she told Eurosport.

“Of course, those moments are very special because, you know, his kids are old enough to watch their dad play out there and I think he wants to be a role model as every father wants to be for the kids.

“And it’s very special that his wife is there, his kids are there, the family, the mom is there, the dad is there, the brother. So these are moments why he’s still playing tennis. He wants to be on the big stage on the big courts here in Wimbledon.

“He has so much success and then, why wouldn’t you want to do it in front of your family? This is a special time for the Murray family.”