• ‘It doesn’t weigh on my mind’, says British No1 • Scot beats Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 6-3 at Hurlingham The Hurlingham club is not necessarily a place one would associate with suffering and pain, more strawberries and Panamas. For Andy Murray, though, it was the venue for the final part of some especially arduous Wimbledon preparations. “I don’t worry about working on my mental strength,” said Murray after completing a 6-4, 6-3 win over Mikhail Youzhny. “I just go out on the running track and suffer and practice and put myself through pain. Then I go into matches feeling mentally strong.” Perhaps that masochistic streak was why he spent so much of his match cursing himself after playing poor shots. Otherwise the only noises that broke the respectful silence were the sharp cries of encouragement from his mother Judy, sitting a few yards away from the court. With Murray having been knocked out of the Queen’s Club tournament in the third round by Mardy Fish last week, this match was an exercise in restoring a little of the confidence that has been gradually ebbing away from Murray’s game since he lost the Australian Open final earlier in the year. Yesterday he played poorly and still won, no mean feat given that Youzhny, seeded 13th in the Wimbledon draw, has been in good form through the season, unlike his opponent. Murray says his mediocre form is not a worry. “It doesn’t weigh on my mind you have just got to move on, the last couple of years have been very good and very consistent and I have just had a bad few months.” Still, his slight slump has helped to ease the pressure put on him by the British public. Maybe it is just that the nation’s fair-weather sports fans have heaped all their unrealistic expectations on England’s football team instead, but the run-in to Wimbledon this year has been conspicuously free of Murraymania. Judy Murray believes that will work to her son’s advantage, as he will not be subject to the suffocating pressure he normally suffers at this time of year. Murray just wishes that he had a few fellow players to help share the hopes of the nation rather than the footballers. He is one of only two British males in the main draw. “It’s not great but that’s where we are right now. It’s a shame there’s not more guys playing in the main draw and I more than most people would like that to change. But we don’t have guys with rankings that would justify wild-card places. Rather than moaning about it it is better to get on and try and find a solution.” Andy Murray Tennis Andy Bull guardian.co.uk
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Andy Murray not worried by mediocre form as Wimbledon approaches
