Andy Murray made his Wimbledon debut in 2005, and he was drawn against George Bastl in the first round.
Murray was ranked 166 places below Bastl, but did not let this disparity prevent him from claiming victory over the Swiss player. Murray stunned Bastl, winning 6-4 6-2 6-2.
It was a landmark moment for Murray, who went on to end Great Britain’s 77-year wait for a Wimbledon Men’s Singles champion when he won the title in 2013.
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Murray defeated Bastl so comfortably in 2005 one might’ve expected to hear that he was brimming with confidence before the match.
However, the youngster admitted he was a ‘little bit nervous,’ a factor he largely attributed to excitement.
Andy Murray said George Bastl was a better player than him despite winning their 2005 Wimbledon first-round match
During his post-match press conference, Murray was asked if he expected to dominate as much as he did against his first-round opponent.
“No, not really. I wasn’t really expecting to win,” Murray replied.
“Obviously he’s much better than me. He’s maybe 200 places higher than me in the rankings and he’s won against Sampras here, so I wasn’t expecting to do so well.
“But once I got the break in the first set, I thought I played really well after that because at the start I was having a lot of chances on his serve and he didn’t really have any chances on mine. But when I got the break, I relaxed and I played pretty well.”
In 2002, Bastl, ranked 145 in the world at the time, stunned six-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras in the second round at the All England Club. After the loss, Sampras said he felt ’empty’.
Later in the press conference, Murray was asked to expand on his previous comments. One reporter asked if Murray had expected to lose the match to Bastl.
“I don’t go on court expecting to lose, but I don’t feel so much pressure because the guys I’m playing against now are much better than me,” the British star began.
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“If I lose, okay, I lost to a better player, and I’ve learnt something. But if I win, then it’s great, I’ve won against a guy that’s got a higher ranking than me.
“When I go on court, I’m going to try my best to win, but I’m just not expecting to do so well. If I lose, I’m not going to feel really badly about it.”
How did Murray fare for the rest of the tournament?
In the second round, Murray faced a tough opponent in the form of 14th seed Radek Stepanek.
Stepanek, who won the Davis Cup later in his career, was expected to beat the young Brit handily. However, Murray had other ideas.
The future two-time Olympic gold medallist comprehensively defeated Stepanek 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
The victory kept British fans’ hopes alive following Tim Henman’s shock loss to Dmitry Tursunov.
Murray said: “I knew Tim had just lost before I went on and I really wanted to keep the Brits going.
“I knew they would give us a bit of hassle in the newspapers if I had lost as well.”
Murray, 18, faced David Nalbandian next. Nalbandian is the only player to defeat Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal at an ATP event.
Murray fought valiantly against the 18th seed, but eventually lost 6-7, 1-6, 6-0, 6-4, 6-1 after suffering with cramp during the match.
Nalbandian, who was impressed by Murray, said: “You always think it will be tough but he played very well.
“He surprised me a bit in the beginning but set by set I started to see his game a little better.
“He lost because of physical problems but he has plenty of time to work on his fitness.”
