Andy Murray eyeing Wimbledon glory after ‘epic’ start to 2023 season

Andy Murray has revealed that he believes he can have a “deep run” at Wimbledon this year after a positive start to the season, which has seen him go 6-3 in matches. The world No 52 reached his first final in eight months at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open where he won a series of “epic” matches and is full of confidence that he can perform at his home Grand Slam tournament come summer.

Murray has enjoyed a successful start to 2023, finding himself embroiled in a series of marathon matches. His six wins include four three-setters in Doha and two five-set epics at the Australian Open, including the longest match of his career at five hours and 45 minutes with his latest-ever finish at 4.05am.

While his victories have been long, they have provided the 35-year-old with bags of confidence in his body and he is already targeting a deep run at his most successful Grand Slam tournament later this year. “My feeling on Wimbledon is that less players play well on grass,” the two-time champion at SW19 told The Times.

“More of the guys are comfortable on the hard courts and that probably increases my chances. I’m not saying I would expect to win the French Open [on clay] if I played, but with Wimbledon there is certainly a better opportunity to have a deep run. But I also really like the way that I’ve trained in practice these last four months and I’ve not been doing that with Wimbledon in mind.”

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Murray’s final-set victories this year have been a product of his regimented training routine, which has been perfected down to every last detail to ensure that he isn’t overworking his body at the latter stages of his career. And the nailed-on practice sessions aren’t being planned with Wimbledon in mind as the Brit explained that he was trying to make the most of every tournament.

He continued: “I’m trying to just focus on each day and trying to get the most out of it. If I do that and accumulate enough of those days, then I believe that come Wimbledon my game will be in a really, really good place.”

Referencing his run in Doha last year – which saw him lose his opening match 6-0 6-1 to Roberto Bautista Agut – Murray could see the improvement in his game. “I just know that where my game today, in comparison to where it was last year, is night and day,” he said.

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“In Doha last year I played one of the worst matches of my career physically. I felt s**t, I played terrible and I had no real clarity around what I was doing. I had issues with my back and I felt terrible. Yes, I have some niggles and my body doesn’t feel amazing, but it’s coped really well with the first few tournaments of the year that have been really demanding.”

Going back to Wimbledon, he added: “My belief is that my body would be fine to play seven five-set matches if needs be. Granted, if they are six-hour ones, probably not, but regular five-set matches, I’d be able to cope with that.”

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