Andy Murray is a little shaky as he prepares to defend his Wimbledon title.
LONDON — Based on Andy Murray’s body language alone, reporters’ questions can produce considerable consternation.
He’ll puff his cheeks, then sigh. He’ll rub his forehead, then clutch his chin. When answers do arrive, some are preceded by a hesitant “Ummm.” Others begin with “No” or “I wouldn’t have thought so” — or both. “I don’t know” is also popular.
Truth is, given all that is going on at the moment, the No. 1-seeded Murray could be forgiven for having a lot on his mind as he prepares to start his title defense at the All England Club on Monday.
Child on the way
There’s a second child on the way for Murray and his wife — happy news, of course, and Sunday, he assured a reporter who asked about its potential effect on his tennis this fortnight, “It’s certainly not a distraction in the slightest.”
There’s his inconsistent season and the chance he could relinquish his spot atop the rankings.
There’s the matter of figuring out how to deal with his unorthodox opponent in the grass-court Grand Slam tournament’s opening Centre Court match. They’ve never played each other, but Murray is familiar with Alexander Bublik, who is from Russia but represents Kazakhstan, just turned 20 and says he finds watching tennis boring. They had an off-court encounter for an ATP promotional video this year.
And there’s also the sore left hip that led one British tabloid to ask readers — at psychic Uri Geller’s prompting — to rub that part of Murray’s body in a photo to heal him.
“I’ve felt fairly calm the last few days, considering how I’ve been feeling,” Murray said.
The hip forced Murray to skip exhibition matches on grass and a few days of training. But, he said it feels much better.
“Obviously, this is an extremely important tournament, so you worry a little bit,” he said. “It’s a little bit stressful if you can’t practice for a few days. You really want to be preparing, training, as much as you can to get ready and make you feel better, especially when you hadn’t had any matches.”
He is 21-9 in 2017, and his lone title came with the benefit of facing only one player ranked in the top 25.
Federer wary
Still, here was Roger Federer’s assessment of Murray’s chances at a place where, in 2013, he became the first British man in 77 years to grab the trophy: “If he’s anything close to 100 percent physically, I consider him one of the big favorites to win the tournament. It’s that simple.”
Murray reached the semifinals at the French Open, but since has played only one match — and lost.
“I can take some antiinflammatories if my hip flares up,” he said. “Hopefully that’s not the case.”