Murray feeling the Wimbledon stress
Andy Murray admits he's "extremely stressed out" carrying the hopes of a nation, but says he won't rest until he brings an end to Britain's Wimbledon woes.
Andy Murray admits he’s “extremely stressed out” carrying the hopes of a nation, but says he won’t rest until he brings an end to Britain’s Wimbledon woes.
Murray will take on the serving might of Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals on Friday after whipping home fans into a frenzy with a stirring comeback win over David Ferrer.
The Scottish braveheart rallied from a set and service break down to avenge his French Open quarterfinal loss to the Spanish world No.5 with an epic 6-7(5) 7-6(6) 6-4 7-6(4) quarterfinal victory.
The four-hour triumph thrust Murray into the last four at the All England Club for the fourth consecutive year, equalling four-time semifinalist Tim Henman as the most successful British man at Wimbledon in the Open era.
“Obviously, the goal now is to win the next match and try and get through to the final for the first time,” the 25-year-old said.
“I’m obviously happy. I’ve had a good run here the last few years but, yeah, I’m not satisfied with that. I want to try and go further.”
Further even than Bunny Austin’s final appearance in 1938.
Murray says even placing himself in a protective bubble from the outside world can’t shield him from the growing pressures of trying to become the first local to win the Wimbledon men’s singles crown since Fred Perry in 1936.
“I don’t watch the TV or read anything, but there’s still a huge amount of pressure there and I know that,” he said.
“Subconsciously, I’m probably extremely stressed out right now, but I try not to feel it.”
The second-round elimination of Rafael Nadal, which left Murray seeded to make the title match, only added to expectations.
Describing Wimbledon as “probably the biggest sporting event that we have”, Murray understands the hysteria as he edges closer and closer to the title.
“Tennis in the UK is not really a sport that necessarily gets followed loads for the rest of the year, but everyone gets into it when Wimbledon comes round because they understand how big a competition it is,” he said.
“It happens on a yearly basis. It’s been around for so long. So many great athletes, tennis players have obviously played here.
“The support that I’ve had over the last sort of five, six years here has been great.
“I’m trying my best to win the tournament for myself obviously, but also for everybody else.”
Tsonga, who famously took out six-time champion Roger Federer from two sets down to reach last year’s semifinals, has cracked 65 aces and dropped only four service games in 13 sets in venturing to the last four once again.
“It will be tough against Tsonga. He’s serving very well,” Murray said.
“I’ll have to play very well to win that one.”
Should he win, Murray will line up for his fourth Grand Slam final on Sunday against top-seeded titleholder Novak Djokovic or the great Federer.