Believer MURRAY: PAIRE PIT BRINGS OUT THE BEST IN ME
ANDY MURRAY can’t wait to face Benoit Paire, the man who sparked his run to Wimbledon glory last year.
When Murray arrived at the Monte Carlo Masters 15 months ago, things were not going particularly well.
The Brit made a meal of a second-round clash with Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert before facing Paire.
Murray had to survive a match point to beat Paire (above) to reach the fourth round. He dug deep, made it through, and even though he didn’t win that tournament, the grittiness of that performance kickstarted a run of form that would see him reach the French Open final and win both Wimbledon and the Olympics for a second time.
World No.1 Murray is hoping another victory over the World No.46, who has never gone beyond the fourth round in a Grand Slam, lifts what has been a stuttering 2017.
Murray said: “It’s a slightly different situation, but it was more the way that last match finished. He served for the match and it was a really average match in terms of the level. Afterwards I was getting asked in the press, ‘How do you feel about the match? How do you feel about your game? It wasn’t the best tennis’.
“And I said, ‘Well, it wasn’t, but that could turn out to be a really important match because I get a chance tomorrow to play better and let’s see what happens’.
“The next day I beat Milos Raonic to two and zero, and then had a great match with Rafa Nadal in the semis, even though I lost. Sometimes it only takes a match or two to start feeling good about yourself, to gain confidence.
“And after Monte Carlo I just felt way, way better and obviously ended up having a great season after that.
“So I hope this match against him has the same impact, but I hope I play better than I did that day.” Murray has a very good record against French opponents, although he is at a loss to explain why.
He added: “I don’t know why I play well against them. There have been a lot of matches I’ve won against French players from losing positions as well, so it’s not like I’ve killed them in the match that I’ve played.
“There have been a lot of close matches and I’ve just managed to get through, but I’ve no idea exactly why that is.
“Against Benoit, it will be important to serve well. He has a big serve himself, plays a lot of serve and volley.
“And when you’re playing guys that are a bit up and down, if you can keep consistent pressure on by serving well and not giving them the opportunities on your own serve then that pressure builds over time and you have to capitalise when they have little lulls and I will try to do that.
“I played better at the end of the fourth set than I did for most of the match on Friday and hopefully I get better from here.
“Finishing strong like that gives me that little boost.”