Murray not feeling the pressure

 

Originally published on: 23/06/13 00:00

The world No.2 believes last summer’s events, when he reached the Wimbledon final before returning to the All England Club to win Olympic gold and claiming his maiden Grand Slam at the US Open, has changed his approach to major tournaments.

“A combination of that [Wimbledon] final and the way I played in it, and also having the Olympics to look forward to,” Murray said, “I think that was the period that changed me, you know, changed my mindset a bit.

“The mindset is similar in that, you know, I come in wanting to try and win the event. I’ve prepared as best as I could. I think in some ways, I feel that I’m putting less pressure on myself.”

The Scot, who kicks off his Wimbledon campaign against Germany’s Benjamin Becker on Monday, has reached the semi-finals or better every year since 2009 and he admits Wimbledon brings out the best in him.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing here,” he said. “I’ve played some of my best tennis here over the course of my career. This tournament obviously means a lot to me.

“I just think, because of what’s happened since then that if I can manage to get myself in the latter stages of the tournament I’d be better equipped to deal with the pressures that go with that.”

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