Hewitt makes Murray favourite

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:38

Murray cruised into the semi-finals with a 7-5 6-3 6-2 victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero on Wednesday, and then had the luxury of sitting back to watch Roddick edge a five-set thriller with Hewitt on Court One.

“I think it’s going to be a tough one for Roddick to win,” said the Australian, who defied a leg injury to twice come back from a set down against Roddick to force a decider which the American won 6-4.

“When I’ve seen Andy Murray at his best, I think he matches up extremely well against Roddick. It’s going to be an interesting match.

“A couple of years ago I saw them play here because they were in my section, and Murray took care of him convincingly. And Murray is a lot better player now than he was then. Roddick’s going to have to play a hell of a match to beat him.”

The match Hewitt referred to came in the third round in 2006, with Roddick having lost in the previous two finals to Roger Federer. Murray was only 19 at the time and making just his second appearance at Wimbledon, but won 7-6 6-4 6-4 and has a 6-2 career record against the former world number one.

Their most recent meeting came in the final in Doha earlier this year and Murray won 6-4 6-2.

The third seed insists he is still not looking ahead to a possible final with five-time champion Federer.

“I understand that I can lose the next match if I don’t play my best,” added Murray. “That’s been one of the things that I’ve learned, and it’s made a huge difference to me over the last year or so.

“I realise that if I don’t bring my best game then I’m going to lose to guys like Roddick. I feel confident because I’ve won a lot of matches on the grass, but every day when I get up to play the matches, I know that I’m going to have to perform very well, and that gets the nerves and the adrenaline going and makes me play better.”

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here