Wimbledon 2011: Andy Murray magic needed to beat 'big three' to title - Tim Henman

Published on Sunday 26 June 2011 18:54

TIM Henman believes Andy Murray must find something exceptional to deny Wimbledon's 'big three' - and he expects the Scot to come out firing in the second week, starting today on Centre Court against Richard Gasquet.

All the talk has been of a leading quartet in the men's singles, but Henman is struggling to see beyond Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer for the title.

"I think they're fractionally ahead. They've got 28 slams between them. But I think Andy is a very close fourth," said four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Henman. "The distance between third and fourth is much closer than the distance between fourth and fifth, so Andy has definitely separated himself from the pack.

"But I said at the beginning of the tournament, and my view hasn't changed, that with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, I couldn't make one a favourite in front of another, but I would put all three just in front of Andy. He's played very, very well.

"I think the good thing is he can play better, but he's still winning and that's important."

• Head to head: Andy Murray vs Richard Gasquet - Honours even but Scot has won the big ones

Murray has survived three rounds, dropping two sets, and the way he spoke after Friday's success over Ivan Ljubicic indicated he is overflowing with confidence. Almost everything about the 24-year-old's demeanour in the first week exuded positivity.

He tackles Gasquet in a repeat of their classic 2008 fourth-round clash, and Murray stands every chance of beating the Frenchman, just as he did that day when he came from two sets and a break behind.

Henman promises there is not even a remote chance of Murray underestimating the size of his task against the world No 13. "He wouldn't do that," Henman said. "He's too professional. He's been around too long and he'll know that it's a tough match and he'll have to play well. They've got history here, haven't they?"

The only irritant for Murray so far has been hearing wags in the crowd yap 'Come on Tim!' during quiet moments in his matches.

Henman has not been particularly impressed either, but said: "I'm sure I had the same when people would say 'Come on Greg!' when I was playing, and probably vice-versa for Greg (Rusedski]. You hear people shouting them all - 'Come on Boris', 'Come on Sue'. It didn't irritate me. The support that I had and the atmosphere out on Centre Court was as good as it can get so I loved every minute of it."