TENNIS

ANDY LAUGHS OFF FEAR OF FEDERER

BRITISH NO 1: Murray is chasing the heavyweight title of tennis

Friday July 3,2009

By Frank Wiechula

ANDY MURRAY marches on to his date with Wimbledon destiny today, saying he feels no fear as he takes on Andy Roddick in the biggest match of his life.

The last time a Briton reached the final was in 1938, with Bunny Austin going on to lose to Don Budge, but Murray is showing no nerves with sporting nirvana within touching distance.

Even the superlative performance of five-times champion Roger Federer, who routed Ivo Karlovic in the quarter-finals and is expected to beat Tommy Haas today, failed to raise a sweat.

“I never go on the court fearing him or whoever it is,” said Murray. “I will more than happily watch them and learn from what they do well.

“But I never went on against anyone thinking I couldn’t win against them.

“You don’t necessarily know the best way to play against the top players until you have come up against them. But every time I have played against Federer, I have felt like I’ve had a chance to beat him.

“I understand I have to play great to win against him, but I never thought it was the right attitude to go into a match not thinking you have a chance.

“I just think that belief is a huge part of sport. If you want to get to the top of your sport, you have got to think you can win against the best players in the world, regardless of where you are ranked, your age or your experience."

Murray has a 6-2 winning record against twice Wimbledon finalist Roddick and announced his passage into the big time with a memorable third-round win against the American here three years ago.

Murray said: " Andy has beaten me a couple of times and playing him is tough"