[1]Andy Murray will begin his campaign to end Britain’s 77 years of Wimbledon hurt Monday, buoyed by his tearful defeat in last year’s final and shrugging off a minefield of a draw.
Fred Perry won Britain’s most recent Wimbledon men’s title in 1936, the year the Spanish Civil War started and Jesse Owens spectacularly defied Hitler and the Nazis at the Berlin Olympics.
Twelve months ago, Murray was defeated by Roger Federer in the final, a loss which ended with the Scot in floods of tears on Centre Court.
However, he then returned to the All England Club to claim Olympic gold before winning Britain’s first men’s Grand Slam title in 76 years when he triumphed at the US Open.
“I think the Wimbledon final last year was important for me,” said Murray, the world number two.
“I got back on the practice court five, six days later and I felt great; whereas when I’d lost in slam finals before well, you saw my results for a few months afterwards. I hadn’t dealt with it particularly well.
“A combination of that final and the way I played in it, and also having the Olympics to look forward to, I think that was the period that changed me, changed my mindset a bit.” Murray, 26, heads into his eighth Wimbledon, with a third Queen’s grasscourt trophy under his belt and free of the back injury which forced him to sit out the French Open.
However, the draw has not been kind to him with seven-time champion Federer, and two-time winner Rafael Nadal, fresh from a record eighth Roland Garros title, both in his half of the draw.
He will start his campaign on Monday against Germany’s Benjamin Becker who he defeated at Queen’s.
Djokovic, the 2011 champion, faces Germany’s Florian Mayer, who he defeated in the quarter-finals last years.
The 26-year-old top seed hasn’t played a grasscourt warm-up, opting to rest after his marathon five-set loss to Nadal in the French Open semi-finals.
Djokovic beat Nadal in the 2011 final for his only Wimbledon title.
“The draw is something that you cannot affect. So I honestly wasn’t thinking about it too much because it’s a matter of luck and it’s a matter of a coin toss, as well,” said Djokovic.
“It’s a Grand Slam, so I don’t think that there is any easy way to the title.” Federer, meanwhile, the holder of a record 17 majors, can become the first man to win eight Wimbledon titles and go one better than Pete Sampras.
But he will be 32 in August; Sampras won the last of his Wimbledon titles as a 28-year-old in 2000.
Sharapova, Serena set up bitter campaign
Maria Sharapova tore into rival Serena Williams on the eve of the championships, setting the tone for a tournament likely to be dominated by their unseemly public row.
The Russian blasted the defending champion for her controversial comments over a high-profile rape case and even ripped into the American’s colourful private life.
In the astonishing attack on the world number one, Sharapova told Williams to keep her opinions to herself, laying bare the bitter relationship between the two.
“She should be talking about her accomplishments, her achievements, rather than everything else that’s just getting attention and controversy,” said Sharapova.
Williams, targeting a sixth All England Club title and 17th major, is fresh from her second French Open triumph, having beaten Sharapova in the final.
Williams is on a 31-match winning run, the best of a career which is already comfortably into its third decade.
— AFP
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