Celebs cheer on Magic Murray
World No.1 feels he is closing in on A-game
A HOST of celebrities turned out to watch Andy Murray sail through to the next stages of Wimbledon.
Among those in the Royal Box yesterday included Olympic legend Matthew Pinsent, former world boxing champion David Haye and Olympic sailor Ben Ainslie.
Andy’s close family, including mum Judy Murray and his wife Kim, were also there to cheer him on.
Andy and Johanna Konta yesterday both sailed through to Wimbledon’s quarterfinals, marking the first time a British man and woman have reached the last eight in more than 40 years.
Long-time British number one Roger Taylor was among those invited to watch the action from the Royal Box, on the day the 44-year record was broken.
Taylor and Wimbledon champion Virginia Wade were the last British man and woman to make it through to the final eight in 1973.
ANDY Murray believes he is closing in on his best tennis – just as one of his biggest rivals for the Wimbledon title packed his bags for home and another is left facing a scheduling logjam.
The Scot ran out a 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4 winner against Benoit Paire of France in the last-16 on Centre Court yesterday, just hours before Rafael Nadal, the world No.2 and a potential semi-final opponent, crashed out in a dramatic 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13 five-set epic to Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller on Court No.1.
The match took so long that Novak Djokovic was unable to take to the court, meaning the Serb must now play back-toback matches against Adrian Mannarino and Tomas Berdych just to reach the semifinals. What is it with these upsets originating in the Grand Duchy?
Murray, who hit 25 winners and made just eight unforced errors against the unpredictable Paire, said he was delighted with his own progress.
It is the 10th successive year he has reached the last eight here, a tally which only three men have bettered in the Open Era.
“That is the best I have hit the ball,” said Murray, who came into the tournament dogged by a hip injury.
“I felt like I moved well. Maybe I could have served a little bit better, done better behind my first serve, but I was very effective on the second serve. That was good.
“Hopefully in a couple of days I’ll feel better again,” he added. “But today was much, much better in terms of how clean I was hitting it, how aggressive I was able to be on the ball.
“My timing was better. I felt like I hit way more winners from the back of the court.
“Against Fabio [Fognini], I hit three or four in four sets. It’s not easy to win matches like that. It’s really hard when you’re not hitting many winners – not getting many free points.”
NEXT up for Murray is big-serving Californian Sam Querrey, who toppled Djokovic here last year.
“Oviously getting to the quarters again is good,” said Murray. “But Sam obviously likes the conditions here.
“He played really well last year. He’s had some good wins here, some tight matches as well. He’ll be confident going in.
“He obviously has a big serve and goes for his shots. He’s a very aggressive player. He’s not an easy guy to break.
“I’ll need to make sure I’m serving well and, you know, not letting him dictate too much.”
Querrey said he would relish the occasion.
“He’s defending champion, No.1 in the world,” he said. “He loves playing here. The crowd is going to be behind him. But sometimes it’s fun to go out there and play where the crowd is behind the other player 100 per cent. I’m going to try to play aggressive, hopefully play well, and can sneak out a win.
“Everyone was talking about it [Murray’s hip] 12 days ago, but he seems to be fine.”
WITH Jo Konta coming through a tense three-set match against Caroline Garcia of France by a 7-6 (3) 4-6 6-4 scoreline, Britain has a man and woman still standing in the last eight for the first time since 1973.
The odds continue to shorten on what would be a historic double title win, the first in the Open Era.
“I think it’s great what Jo has done,” said Murray. “It’s not just about this tournament, but over the last 18 months, two years, she has done great.
“It’s important to have various different role models in the sport, players competing for the biggest events.
“I do think it makes a difference to the interest in the sport, because a lot of people who follow tennis in this country won’t enjoy watching me play.
“It’s true, you know. People like different game styles, different personalities.”
Murray believes the fact his average service speed has dropped this year is down to different characteristics of the Wimbledon balls.
“No, I’m not trying to place it more,” he said. “I think most of the players seem to be down a bit this year. I don’t know if the balls are a little bit slower.
“I could be wrong, but my second-serve speed seems fairly decent, around what it usually is. My first serve speeds certainly was a little bit down in some of the matches.
“I’m not sure exactly why that is. But we’ve checked a few of the other players. And they’ve also been down on the first serve a bit.”