Wimbledon: Andy Murray has it in him to go the distance, says Andre Agassi

Published on 06/07/2012 00:00

ANDRE Agassi believes Andy Murray can win Wimbledon if he manages to play “a great match at the right time”.

Agassi, the Wimbledon champion 20 years ago, was Murray’s idol as a child and watched on from the Royal Box on Wednesday as the home favourite beat David Ferrer to reach a fourth consecutive Wimbledon semi-final. Today, Murray will face French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga while the other last-four clash is between defending champion Novak Djokovic and six-time winner Roger Federer.

Agassi said: “I think Murray has it in him to go the distance. You have to play good matches from here on in, but really he has to play a great match at the right time, and that’s still ahead of him.”

The American, though, sees world No 1 Djokovic as favourite for the title. “I always favour Djokovic,” said Agassi. “It’s his time in his career. He’s proven that in the last year and a half or so. You’ve got to give him the advantage.”

Three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe has been impressed by Murray’s form, saying on the BBC: “The biggest thing to me is his backhand looked unbelievable towards the end of the Ferrer match. He really started going after it. The key for him is the return of serve. He’s got to hurt people like Tsonga – a big, strong guy with a great serve. Murray has done exactly what he needed to do to get here. Now he has to get about 10 per cent better each match if he wants to win this.”

This is Murray’s seventh Wimbledon but his first with Ivan Lendl as his coach. Player and coach have often been compared in terms of their personality and career paths, and Boris Becker, another three-time Wimbledon winner, can see Lendl’s influence coming through in Murray’s game and attitude.

Becker told Live@Wimbledon: “Lendl has a winner’s mentality, he leaves no stone unturned. He played in my generation and he was very methodical, very machine-like, and he was the first one with the diet, the physical trainer, the racquet stringer. He has affected Murray’s attitude and the way he competes. It was a tough match against Ferrer and the other night against Marcos Baghdatis but I just felt, having Lendl there in his corner, always being focused and not giving much emotion away, is starting to be ingrained into the Murray DNA.

“Murray’s maturing on the tennis court a bit quicker than he maybe would have without Lendl.”