Murray's mind already on New York
Andy Murray may have achieved the biggest win of his life, but as Wimbledon.com explains, he will not be resting on his laurels for too long...
Having just become the first British man to win Wimbledon for 77 years, Andy Murray is likely to be photographed somewhere hot this week, kicking back on a beach or strolling in some sun-baked location, taking in his achievement and giving himself a well-earned and much-needed rest.
He will enjoy it, but not for too long. Murray is something of a restless soul and within a few days he will be thinking that it’s time to get back in the gym and on the court as he tries to build on his first Wimbledon title.
His win over Novak Djokovic gave him a second Grand Slam title and next month, Murray will defend his US Open title, a unique experience for him and one he hopes will be successful.
The Scot said this week that his coach, Ivan Lendl, will already be thinking about New York. “I know in Ivan’s head that he is not (totally) content with how the last 18 months have gone,” said Murray, who also lost to Djokovic in the final in Melbourne in January.
“He will think I could have won the Australian Open this year and to get me ready for the US Open he will train me really hard over in Miami.
“ I think that is huge having somebody like that in your corner. He was the ultimate competitor as a player and he loved winning. His consistency was amazing. He made eight consecutive US Open finals and there was no let-down for him.
“I don’t know exactly how I am going to respond when I get back on the practice court but the people around you can help a lot with that as well. I hope having him in my corner will help out a lot.”
In the hours after his Wimbledon triumph, Murray spoke about how tough it had been to cope with the pressure of being a home player trying to end a national rut of 77 years, on the men’s side.
Having won the title, Murray will probably never again be asked about trying to do what Fred Perry did (apart from trying to win Wimbledon three times in a row) and the 26-year-old said he will enjoy not being under quite such stress.
“I would expect the pressure to be less,” he said. “But I would hope it doesn’t change my expectations too much. When I go to the US Open I will still want to win it. I’m just kind of content and I hope that won’t change my expectations.”
Murray is set to return to action in Montreal at the start of next month for the Rogers Cup, the first of two Masters 1000 events before the US Open. He lost in the third round last year but is a former champion there and will expect to do well again.
Despite Sunday’s win, Murray still trails Djokovic by almost 3,000 points at the top of the world rankings and knows reaching the No 1 spot is not going to be easy.
But the Scot said he would rather focus on adding to his Grand Slam tally and let the ranking take care of itself. “You are more remembered for the slams you win,” he said. “I would rather win one more Slam and not get to No 1.
“The top ranking would be a great thing to do but if I was picking it would be another Slam and hopefully I can defend my US Open title next month.”
