Andy Murray is in what many have been referring to as “a good place”. His back is back, his team is settled, marriage works and so does that backhand from the gods.
Pushing Novak Djokovic on Parisian clay, champion at Queen’s again and playing like a dream, he enters his 10th Wimbledon on Centre Court today, giving the beguiling impression that he has never been better prepared to launch his latest assault on the Wimbledon gentlemen’s singles title.
Never mind that he may well have to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and defending champion Djokovic to annex a second title, Murray’s apparent ease with himself tells of a man ready for mission improbable.
“I'm certainly not getting carried away,” he says. “I know how difficult these events are to win and I just concentrate on the first match and try my best to get through that one.”
Which brings us to that first obstacle, Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin, the world No.58 who on his day can be a menace but who, having lost seven of his last eight matches, is on the sort of streak to calm any nerve-riddled big gun.
He has one thing in common with his opponent: an inspirational female coach. The only difference being that Kukushkin married his.
The Kazakh reckons that, as a teenager, he was stuck at around No.250 in the rankings and struggling with his game when his girlfriend Anastasia started giving him a few tips on tactics, technique and his physical preparation before games. An excellent tournament in Moscow followed, then a formal coaching link-up and, finally, wedding bells.
Yet if Murray tends to make light work of negotiating his way towards the second week of Grand Slams these days, he still has a little to learn from Roger Federer, a man with the capability of making it all seem like child’s play.
He did, famously, lose to world No.116 Sergiy Stakhovsky here a couple of years back in the second round, but the last time he departed at the first hurdle of any Grand Slam was 12 years ago, when Peruvian Luis Horna downed him at Roland Garros.
With the greatest respect to Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, the chances of a repeat today are slim. Federer thrashed Dzumhur at the French Open a month ago. Now, the great man is talking about being better prepared for this Wimbledon than for any of his seven triumphant campaigns. Fair enough, for if an extended grass court season aids anyone, how about the man who still glides across the lawns at 33 like a hover mower?
Nadal has suffered his fair share of early round demon thunderbolts and comets. After Lukas Rosol and Steve Darcis came the shooting star Nick Kyrgios. Now, after a trying season which has seen him plummet to No.10 in the rankings, Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci may fancy joining the old dementor's list of tormentors on No.1 Court.
On the domestic front following Liam Broady’s bravura comeback to beat Australian Marinko Matosevic on Monday, James Ward, Kyle Edmund, Brydan Klein and Aljaz Bedene will set out to follow suit.
Laura Robson, who faces Russian Evgeniya Rodina on No.3 Court, accepts miracles will not happen overnight after a long absence with a wrist injury. Just seeing her back in the Grand Slam business, though, should be a delight.
It is time to also discover just exactly how much Petra Kvitova has grown on SW19 as she opens the defence of her Ladies’ Singles Championship against Dutch world No.108 Kiki Bertens. Could the delightful, low-key champion becoming a superstar three-time winner? Either way, the great thing is that we can be assured the Czech’s girl next door charm will not evaporate. She should be reserved a proper Wimbledon roar.
