Andrew Murray – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis Player

Scot Andy Murray is currently the top ranked British player in the world, and although he has a propensity to injury, the young man has been tipped as one of the rising stars on the ATP circuit.

The 20-year-old has a habit of talking out of turn, and has antagonised many an avid fan with his anti-English comments and his outbursts on court. But if one looks beyond his petulance, there is a tennis player who exhibits a huge amount of talent. 

With the recent retirement of Tim Henman, Murray is single-handedly keeping the dreams of starved British tennis fans alive, and although he has made no secret of the fact that Wimbledon is not his favoured tournament, he is expected to cause an upset at the 2008 event.

Almost all his results have come on hard or grass courts, so it is even more surprising that the Scot does not favour his ‘home’ tournament. He has, in fact, had an impressive showing at the All England Club and boasts a 4^th round finish in 2006.

He certainly got people to sit up and take note after his debut performance at London in 2005. He was awarded a wild card for the tournament and caused a major upset when he beat 14^th-seed Radek Stepanek in straight sets.

In doing so he became the first Scot to reach the third round of the tournament, and was the only remaining Brit in both the men’s and ladies events. His All England hopes were dashed by Argentine, David Nalbandian, and during the match he showed signs of fatigue – another problem which seems to dog the young Scot.

Andy Murray, Wimbledon men’s tennis player, has shown his pedigree by defeating players like Robin Soderling, Ivan Ljubicic, Ivo Karlovic and Tommy Haas, but arguably his best performance came at the 2006 Cincinnati Masters when he defeated world number one, Roger Federer. He was one of only two players who beat Federer in 2006 - the other being Rafael Nadal, the world number two.

Murray missed out at Wimbledon 2007 as he was forced to withdraw due to a wrist injury. He has, however, had a relatively good finish to the year – he claimed two ATP Tour wins:

• He defended his 2006 title at San Jose by defeating Croat, Ivo Karlovic, 6-7(3) 6-4 7-6(2).
• He thumped Fernando Verdasco of Spain in straight sets, 6-2 6-3, to claim the title in St Petersburg.

His 2007 win/loss record stands at 29/10 and his Masters Series record is as follows:

• Semi-finals at both Indian Wells and Miami
• Quarterfinals in Paris
• Third Round in Madrid

His ATP ranking has rocketed from 63 in 2005 to 11 in 2007, and if the young man can learn to channel his energy, and work on his fitness levels, it will only be a matter of time before he starts winning the Grand Slams.