Murray happy to leave it late

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:37

The British number one was handed third slot on tennis’s most prestigious court for the third time this week. This time he hopes to follow up wins against American Robert Kendrick and Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis with another clinical performance against Viktor Troicki of Serbia.

Murray admitted: “I quite like playing late in the day. It’s always going to be good crowds the later you play. It doesn’t bother me at all. I don’t mind.”

His first match against Kendrick brought in a peak of 4.5million viewers, although that was a long way off the peak of 10million who tuned in for the Scot’s five-set Wimbledon 2008 victory over Richard Gasquet to win through to the quarter-final.

If Murray progresses deep into next week the figures are bound to rise and Troicki should provide him with few problems.

The pair grew up as juniors and Troicki appeared somewhat in awe of Murray.

Troicki admitted: “Even in juniors he was always the top and he has improved so much in the last year. He’s playing great. He’s one of the favourites to win it.

“I need to play aggressive, play smart, give my best and hope that I can play my best tennis. I need to believe I can win these matches against the top players.”

The statistics are not on Troicki’s side. In two matches against Murray on the ATP tour Troicki has failed to win a set, winning just one game in their last encounter. Troicki has never played on Centre Court, throwing up the possibility that he could freeze on his big day, just like Gulbis appeared to do in the second round.

He said: “I will need some time to get used to the court and the atmosphere around Centre Court and then I will see how the crowd is reacting. I just hope that I’m going to play well.”

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