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Murray's form is fine – Federer
Andy Murray's fans should lose no sleep over his form as he continues his quest for history at Wimbledon.
That encouraging message came from no less a judge than Roger Federer as Murray was due to take on Latvia's Ernests Gulbis in the second round on Centre Court later today.
Federer admitted he watched some of Murray's first-round struggle against American Robert Kendrick in which the British number one looked lethargic and lost the second set on a tie-break before eventually winning in four.
Federer said: "It's always possible for a guy to lose a set, especially on grass. If he serves well, plays the big points well, a set goes by pretty quickly.
"But he (Murray) came through, so everything's under control for you guys."
Even so Murray was looking for improvement against a 20-year-old opponent who he has beaten in their only two meetings but who is also a dangerous big-hitter.
Gulbis' world ranking has slid from 38 to 74 in the past 12 months but much of that is due to the fact he has been working in the gym on his physical condition at the expense of his shot-making.
The Latvian, however, has been reunited with his mentor during his teens, former ATP tour player Niki Pilic, in the last few weeks and his confidence has been growing.
Gulbis, who reached the quarter-finals of the French Open last year and the fourth round in New York the year before, said: "I did a lot of physical work and now I'm much better than I was and tennis-wise, slowly, slowly, I'm getting my form back.
"I just need one tournament to play good. I think I'm going to be confident then."
Murray insisted there would be no complacency.
He said: "Gulbis is a very tough opponent. He has caused some upsets in the past and is a huge hitter of the ball. I'm going to need to be on my game to beat him."Meanwhile Murraysaid he was "disappointed" over hints from his Wimbledon second-round opponent that he bent the rules to his advantage in one of their previous matches.
Gulbis recalls a meeting at Queen's Club last year when he believes Murray took a medical 'time-out' for no other reason than to slow up the match.
Murray acknowledges some players do occasionally use such dubious tactics but insists he is one of the good guys who do not.
"I did have to withdraw from the next round the following day, so that's very disappointing to hear," said the Scot.
"I never once used any of the rules that certain players have used to try to gain an upper hand in a match or to slow my opponent down or anything.
"When I played him at Queen's that was not the case. I didn't realise there was a problem. I woke up and I couldn't grip the racket the following day."
Gulbis yesterday made it clear he saw things differently.
"In the third set, he took a medical time-out when it was five-all," he remembered. "Actually he had nothing (wrong with him). He just broke my rhythm, and I wasn't an experienced enough player to deal with that at the time."
Murray refutes Gulbis' version of events.
"There are so many things in matches where guys take toilet breaks, injury time-outs, delay you sometimes when you are trying to serve, and take a little longer in between the points than they are meant to. It happens all the time," he concedes.
"I have never done it - it's not part of the sport. It's a form of cheating - it's bending the rules to gain an advantage.
"It does go on. Certain players do it, and certain players don't. I'm one of the guys who doesn't do it."
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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