While this statistic is bandied about rather a lot, and has been since the British public’s hopes were heartlessly raised and then dashed each time Tim Henman exited the tournament in spectacular semi-final style, take a moment if you will, to imagine the magnitude of this sentence for Andy Murray.
He is the UK’s only hope, everything rests on him, and the time has come to prove himself. That’s a lot of pressure for the world No. 2 to handle, especially as last year, everything ended in disaster!
So will Murray be able to handle the pressure this year? He has made a winning start to his latest Wimbledon campaign, beating his opponents without too much trouble, bar dropping serve in a fairly inconsistent performance against Mikhail Youzhny, who put Murrray under some real pressure in the fourth round of the tournament. Check out the BBC report on that match here.
Perhaps the pressure is getting to him; his performance in the coming match will surely tell all. To help Murray out, as well as all those who’ve been inspired by the summer’s tennis tournaments to play a few sets of their own, I’ve put together some tips on keeping a clear head when it comes to tennis.
Releasing the tennis-ion
Keep Comfortable: Maybe Andy Murray’s sweatbands are a bit tight, or he forgot to cut the label out of his shirt when he was playing 20th seed Youzhny... In all seriousness, being uncomfortable can seriously affect your game. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a seasoned professional, it’s important to wear the right clothing, especially a great pair of shoes or trainers.
Don’t just buy the first pair you see, shop around a little bit for the perfect pair – there’s a large selection of tennis equipment including tennis shoes, and equally important, an extensive range of racquets available at UK based Millet Sports, so you can have a good browse before you buy.
Think Positive: It’s important to stay positive, even in a tennis game you seem to be losing. Lose your temper or despair, and there’s no way you’ll come back from it. Think of previous triumphs and how you achieved them; last summer Murray beat tennis legend Roger Federer to win the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics and would do well to cast his mind back to his past achievement before and during his next Wimbledon match!
Murray insists he can indeed handle the pressure, commenting in an interview with the Radio Times:
"There's a lot riding on Wimbledon, but I'm better equipped to deal with the pressures and understand how I need to play matches when I get to the latter stages of the big events."
But only time will tell if this is finally Murray’s year.
(Image via Yahoo! Sports)
