Andy Murray Says He Enjoys Playing The High Pressure Events

Andy Murray is shying away from the pressure cooker that is Wimbledon. The Scot who won the title in 2013 enters having won 20 of 21 matches and is among the top favorites to claim the trophy in two weeks.

Murray, who was bounced by Grigor Dimitrov a year ago, is ready for the challenge in front of his home fans.

“I enjoy playing in these high-pressure situations,” Murray said Saturday. “That’s really what I play for now. I enjoy these events. I prepare extremely hard for them. I feel like I’m coming into the event as best prepared as I can be. Hopefully I can perform well.”

Murray, though, has just one win over the Big 3 since the start of last year, and he is just 2-6 in Grand Slam finals.

Murray’s draw also could take him through a brutal path with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Rafael Nadal and then Roger Federer just to get to the final. But the Scot isn’t looking further than his first round foe Mikhail Kukushkin.

“The most important thing is to concentrate on your first match,” Murray said. “It’s very easy to get carried away and look ahead, think ‘I’m playing great tennis, everything’s going to be fine.’

“But the reality is that it doesn’t really matter what’s happened the rest of the year or in the build-up to the event as I think Stan [Wawrinka] proved at the French Open.

“You have to make sure you’re ready each day for every opponent you come up against.”

Murray also just won the Queen’s event for a fourth time and the only person to beat him since the start of March has been Novak Djokovic.

“Winning gives you confidence,’ Murray added. “This year I’ve won a lot of matches – more than I ever have in my career to this point in a season. It’s been a good start to the year. Hope I can keep it up.”