As the ATP tour gears up for French Open 2021, certain players have their eyes set on the grass-court season that starts after Roland Garros. Three-time Grand Slam champ, Andy Murray is hoping to prepare well and get ready for his preferred Wimbledon Championship 2021. And Former World No.1 Mats Wilander has an interesting take on Murray’s prospect at Wimbledon.
Wilander reckons Murray can reach the quarterfinals in London. With the British crowd behind him, Wilander is certain Murray can produce some heroics.
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?He can get to a quarter-finals at Wimbledon, for sure. He could have a couple of heroic efforts on Centre Court against lower-ranked players and get a bit of confidence.”
Wimbledon Championships 2021 draw key for Andy Murray
Moreover, Murray will need a bit of luck from the draw as well according to Wilander. Since Murray is ranked outside the top 104, he will certainly be given the wildcard at Wimbledon 2021. Hence he could be in line to face anyone including the likes of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, etc.
“Obviously the draw is going to be massive. If he gets drawn against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round or Roger (Federer), Rafa (Nadal) and Novak (Djokovic), then it?s a problem. Throw him into a fourth-round and we are all fired up, like it?s the last moment for him. Yeah, then he can beat the players like Tsitsipas, (Alexander) Zverev and these top guys, for sure.
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Recently, Murray played a doubles match at the Italian Open 2021. And he was in line to receive a wildcard at Roland Garros, but instead, Murray decided to prepare for the grass-court season and skipped the clay season.
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“What Andy needs is to play tournaments that make him play slightly more aggressively against the big hitters and not rely on them missing. On clay, he doesn?t have the weapons to hurt his opponents, so he tends to fall back and wait for them to miss,” Wilander suggested.
Since his hip replacement surgery in 2018, Murray has not played at Wimbledon. He last played in 2017 where he reached the quarterfinals. Now he will most certainly return in 2021. Let’s see if the optimism around him can convert his chances on court.