Andy Murray backed for Wimbledon success after promising Australian Swing
Tim Henman believes Andy Murray has improved in every aspect of his game and thinks if he is to have a good Grand Slam run “it’ll be at Wimbledon.”
Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray underwent hip surgery back in 2019 and has been steadily regaining fitness and form as he staged an impressive return to the top level of the ATP tour.
In preparation for the Australian Open Murray put in number of promising displays at the Sydney International, where he reached his first final since he won the European Open in Antwerp in 2019.
Murray faced World number 23 Nikoloz Basilashvili at both the Sydney International and the Australian Open in the space of a week, with both matches lasting over three hours.
Their first encounter lasted three hours and 13 minutes over three sets and their Australian Open first round match went the full five sets and lasted three hours and 52 minutes. However, Murray then lost to Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel in the second round.
Following Murray’s first round win, seven-time Grand Slam ace Mats Wilander called Murray’s comeback “a huge success.”
Speaking with Eurosport, former World number four Henman said “I really feel that Murray’s moving in the right direction and he’ll continue to put in the hard work. There’s going to be a lot more big moments on court for Andy Murray.
“I think he’s still making big strides in his game. With the hip surgery that he’s had, the amount of tennis that he’s missed over the last three and a half to four years has been massive.
“Now he’s starting to build consistently, he might not always be having the results that he wishes and then the expectations that he’s got. But for me, the important element is that he’s not having interruptions to his training, to his tournament schedule.
“This is a long year and to have already been in a final [the Sydney Classic], he’s played plenty of tennis, he’s got matches under his belt, I’m sure he can bounce back from this pretty rapidly,” Henman claimed.
“I think when you reflect on some of his matches, last year in the Slams, he won a couple of amazing matches at Wimbledon, had an incredible match against [Stefanos] Tsitsipas at the US Open.
“I think his game has developed a lot more, I think his fitness is better, I think his movement is sharper. I definitely think he can get to the second week of a Grand Slam.
“Where is it most likely to happen? I think the reality is probably Wimbledon. I think grass is a surface that he’s very comfortable on.
“He has the experience of playing great tennis [there], having won there twice and also the support of the crowd so I think if he’s going to have a good run in a Grand Slam in 2022, it’ll probably be at Wimbledon.”
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