Ruthless Murray ready to bury best friend Wawrinka
LAST week they were allies, pinging balls back and forth in an atmosphere of camaraderie. But today Andy Murray and Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka, one of the British No1’s best friends on the tour, will be bitter adversaries.
Murray resumes his Wimbledon quest on Centre Court with a fourth-round contest against 19th seed and regular practice buddy Wawrinka. But the Scot insists there is no danger their friendship off the court will diminish his killer instinct on it.
“It doesn’t change anything for me. When you go to the court you’re there to compete, regardless of whether you’re friends or not,” said Murray. “You kind of know each other’s games a little bit better than you might know some of the others that you don’t hit with and don’t see around that much. But it won’t make a difference.”
If Wawrinka goes the way of Robert Kendrick, Ernests Gulbis and Victor Troicki – that is, back to the dressing room following a ruthlessly administered thrashing – Murray is likely to meet eighth seed Gilles Simon, of France, in the quarter-finals. The world No3 will also be one step closer to achieving his ultimate aim: ending Britain’s 73-year wait for a men’s singles champion at the All England Club.
But while he admits to dreaming of emulating Fred Perry, Murray’s immediate focus is squarely on defeating the 24-year-old, who won Olympic gold in the doubles alongside top seed Roger Federer last year.
“I’d obviously love to get to the final. But there is still a lot of tennis to be played,” Murray added.
“You think about it the final three or four months before the tournament starts. But it’s not what I’m thinking about. I’ll be concentrating on Stan and trying to get through the next match.”
ORDER OF PLAY DAY SEVEN
CENTRE COURT (1PM START)
R Soderling 13 v R Federer 2
D Safina 1 v A Mauresmo 17
A Murray 3 v S Wawrinka 19
COURT ONE (1PM START)
V Williams 3 v A Ivanovic 13
F Verdasco 7 v I Karlovic 22
T Berdych 20 v A Roddick 6