Don’t blame Amelie if I fail, says Murray
ANDY MURRAY yesterday insisted that if his Wimbledon defence is disappointingly brief, then no blame should be laid at the door of his new coach Amelie Mauresmo. The reigning champion discovered yesterday that Belgium’s David Goffin, a neat ball-striker who looks like he might be the shy one in a boyband, will be his opponent when he steps out on to Centre Court at 1pm on Monday. And in the unlikely event of the worst happening,
he w warned against using his men mentor Mauresmo as a scapegoat. ‘I could co lose in the first round and it certainly c wouldn’t be her fault,’ said Murray. ‘You cannot, as a coach, change any anything in five or six days. It is silly to suggest otherwise. ‘Bu ‘But what I can sense is whether I feel like things we are working on in practice p are the right things, whe whether I feel like we com communicate well, tactics and the way we talk after a match. ‘I’ve enjoyed the last few days. I don don’t think the first few (at Queen’s whe where he lost in the third round) wer were the perfect place to start. ‘Ev ‘Every time we were on the pra practice court and Amelie sto stood anywhere near me, the there were the clicks of a hun hundred cameras. ‘It is i normal to be a bit upt uptight in those circ circumstances, esp especially as we did not kno know each other well at tha that stage. ‘Sin ‘Since Queen’s we have man managed to spend some tim time together on court. ‘I had h dinner with her on Wed Wednesday night. ‘Th ‘The thing that has sur surprised me is she has fitted in with the team very quickly.’ Unlike what initially seemed the case 12 months ago, Murray’s early draw looks kind, although Goffin is someone whose natural talent exceeds that of his current ranking of 104. The 23-year-old Belgian reached Wimbledon’s third round two years ago and defeated Australian Bernard Tomic, who had made the last eight at SW19 12 months before. Goffin will not blast Murray off the court but he is an attractive player to watch. He is skilled and it is to be hoped he does not become this year’s Steve Darcis, the little-known Belgian who beat Rafael Nadal in the 2013 first round. If all goes to plan, Murray is scheduled to meet last year’s runner-up Novak Djokovic in the semifinals this time. The Serb was practising at SW19 yesterday after pulling out of his favoured pre-Wimbledon exhibition on Thursday as a precaution to protect his wrist, which he notably flexed and shook at times yesterday. Former Wimbledon champions Nadal and Roger Federer are both facing potentially awkward second rounds. The Spaniard could meet Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic, who knocked him out at the same stage in 2012. Federer could come up against Frenchman Julien Benneteau, who led him by two sets the same year. Enough British players have sympathetic draws to encourage thoughts of several home first-round wins. In the women’s draw, the outstanding prospect is a quarter-final between the two favourites and former champions, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.