Modelling everything from tuxedos to training vests and low-slung jeans, Murray tells the magazine that he is ‘very much a shorts and T-shirt man’ as he is interviewed at his Surrey home.

Fresh from defeating Roger Federer at the final of the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Andy also spoke candidly to the magazine about the rigours of drug testing – recalling how one particularly inconvenient appointment came on the day of the General Election this year.

Christopher Bailey, who designed one of Andy’s tuxedos described him as ’so focused and so driven in his craft. He’s laser sharp: a wonderful person for the nation to celebrate.’

Image Courtesy of http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1304312/Tennis-star-Andy-Murray-sexy-photo-shoot-Vogue-magazine.html

It was Murray’s serve that faltered as the match wore on – with his first serve percentage dropping from 73% in the opening set to 66% in the second and falling to 40% in the third set.

Murray said:

You’re not going to be able to play every single point on your terms against the best player in the world. You can’t. You’re going to need to go through periods in the match where he can be dictating, and there’s periods in the match where I was dictating.

Nadal was incredibly gracious with his victory, saying that Murray will win a slam soon, adding ‘to bet Andy you have to play your best tennis.

Following the disappointing result, The Guardian’s Kevin Mitchell wrote that in time, Murray will find scraps of comfort following his Wimbledon defeat, explaining

But he did tremendously well, on the back of intense physical and mental preparation, to get his tennis back to near its best for these championships – only to collide with Rafael Nadal in one of his ferocious winning moods.

And what now for Britain’s one-time tennis hopeful?

I’ll try and put the rackets away. I am not great at staying away from the court and the gym, but I need to take a little bit of time off after this. I worked hard in the week before and it’s been a long tournament. I need to go and get myself ready for the US Open.

Photograph: Dubreuil Corinne/ABACA/Press Association Images

Murray plays world number 1, Rafael Nadal this afternoon on centre court. The game is anyone’s and Murray’s game gets stronger year on year.

Murray spoke to the BBC yesterday, speaking live to Tim Henman and John McEnroe. The young player said that he looks ahead to his crucial clash with Rafael Nadal and reflects on Roger Federer’s surprise exit in the quarter-finals. He also controversially said he’d be surprised if the top seeded women would be ranked in the top 1,000 of the men’s game.

According to Murray’s channel, Tsonga put aside any bad feelings after losing the match yesterday.  The French player said that he hoped that the Scotsman would win Wimbledon.  He sympathised with the pressure that Murray was under to win on his home territory.

Let’s hope that Murray can ignore the weight of the nation’s hopes when he faces the Spanish, world no.1, Rafael Nadal on Friday.  Murray told the Guardian  that he looks forward to playing Nadal, they have competed against each other in 4 grand slams and it currently stands at  2 all.  Friday should promise a match which has the crowd teetering on the edge of their seats.

]]> http://thecollectivereview.com/andy-murray/wimbledon-2010-murrays-in-the-semi-final.html/feed 0 http://thecollectivereview.com/andy-murray/murray-kournikova-and-hingis-at-wimbledon.html http://thecollectivereview.com/andy-murray/murray-kournikova-and-hingis-at-wimbledon.html#comments Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:23:30 +0000 Natalie Wotherspoon http://thecollectivereview.com/andy-murray/?p=79 Murray is now in the quarter finals with Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and they will be playing second on the centre court. The Mirror describes Tsonga as a class player who reached the final of the Australian Open in 2008, and got to the semis in Melbourne again in January. It is not going to be easy for Murray to beat him but the Scottish lad seems focused and unperturbed by whoever he plays.

Yesterday, we had a trip down memory lane as  Anna Kournikova and Martina Hingis, the pensioners of Wimbledon, reunited to play doubles, charming the crowd effortlessly.  Kourniokva, 29, retired from tennis several years ago at and the last time we saw Hingis, 29, at Wimbledon was 3 years ago after her scandalous cocaine taking was revealed. All seems to be forgiven as she was heartily welcomed onto the court.  Hingis was a Wimbledon singles champion in 1997. The dream team thrashed Britons, Sam Smith, 38 and Anne Hobbs , 50, 6-2 and 6-4.

Since leaving tennis Kournikova has done plenty of modeling and charity matches.  Kournikova finds even these matches strenuous as she has multiple injuries to her back which ruined her professional tennis career.  Not is all is gloom as she now lives in glorious Miami and is girlfriend to Enrique Inglesias.  She be seen in his music video “Escape”, it was whilst on the set that they met.  Whilst on the sporting track, Inglesias has promised the BBC he would water-ski naked if Spain win the world cup. This might cheer up some of the ladies who were down after England lost out on the World Cup.

Sky News report that Andy Murray knows he will have to find a way of coping with Sam Querrey’s serve if he is to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. The 22-year-old Querrey has yet to reach the last eight of a Grand Slam event, however he is currently enjoying his best season asas over the last three weeks he has won the Queen’s Club title and reached the fourth round at the All England Club for the first time.

According to the Telegraph, One of Murray’s strategies will be to keep Querrey constantly on the move to see whether Querrey can run and strike, run and strike, as well as he can stand on the baseline and smack serves from a great height of 6″6.

The game should be electric but let’s hope it doesn’t last as long as the John Isner and Nicolas Mahut match.

The pressure is on for Murray this year as he’s the only British contender with a decent chance at the finals. He’s our number 1 player! Britain has been waiting 74 years for a male Wimbledon winner but could this be the year?

The odds seem to be against him as his last quarter final match was back in the Australian Slam against Roger Federer but let’s not underestimate hims as he remains the world’s number 4. John McEnroe told the Independent that he thought that Murray would inevitably win a Grand Slam in the future but he didn’t forsee Murray winning Wimbledon this year. He reminded us that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have won 19 out of the last 21 grand slams which doesn’t leave much room for other international tennis stars.

Perhaps Murray has a secret weapon though. Murray has recently got back together with his ex-girlfriend, Kim Sears and he is said to be bissfully happy to be back in the relationship.  The Mail Online discovered that Kim is mad about tennis and tennis has long dominated her life as her father is the Head Coach of women’s tennis in the UK.  Let’s hope that with her support and his new found happiness we might see him in the quarter finals or even throw a smile to the crowd.

On a completely different note to young love, the Queen will be attending Wimbledon this year for the first time in 33 years. Yet the questions remains, to bow or not to bow? Murray is undecided about what he should do and this has attracted much media attention. The Telegraph’s Harry Mount suggests that whilst Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova have said they will do, Murray should not feel obliged to do so as it is his decision. Is it a question of politeness or principle?

Murray will be competing against world No.80 Jan Hajek of the Czech Republica in round one tomorrow so fingers are firmly crossedthat the Scottish lad pulls his balls out of their bag!

This year however, there will be a special guest – the Queen. On the 24th June, for the first time in 33 years she will be taking her place in her Royal Box on the Centre Court.

Her Majesty and all the other Centre Court visitors will have to hope that the typically English weather will not ruin their day of tennis. Fortunately, with the now- famous roof, which was put to use for the first time one year ago. However, the new installation did prompt the usual bad Wimbledon weather to become a lot nicer.

Now, for the tennis itself. For the men, Rafael Nadal, who did not win the title last year after an amazing 2008 final will be returning this year, with the possibility of playing against Roger Federer, the six-time champion. Andy Roddick, who nearly beat Federer last year will be a big competition on the court. However Andy Murray, our best british player will try and become the first British man to win since Fred Perry in 1936.

For the women, Serena and Venus Williams are once again the favourites. Yet Kin Clijsters and Justine Henin representing Belgium will be returning challenging whomever they play against.

The 2010 Wimbledon Championships will be starting on 21 June at 12pm and will end on the 4th July.

Murray builds up for a big a serve but realises he is missing the vital equipment – a net. He then performs a series of brilliant yet rarely seen tricks while he waits for the net. The advert wants to show that nets are a vital tool to stop malaria spreading in Africa. You can now watch the ad on www.netsneeded.co.uk . It will be broadcasted on TV and online.

Malaria is an urgent health crisis causing 850,000 deaths each year, with the majority, over 90%, happening in Africa. The most vulnerable are pregnant women and children. The advert aims to highlight the fact that simple tools like mosquito nets help save many lives.

“I hope people enjoy the ad and take away the serious message behind it. Malaria is a preventable disease yet it still claims the lives of 2,000 people a day in Africa. A disease of that scale here in the UK would be unthinkable and surely the same should apply for Africa. A life saving mosquito net costs less than a pack of tennis balls so please join me, donate and support  Malaria No More UK”, Murray said.

It was definite victory, with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 result within 90 minutes.

After the match, Andy said

“I love New York. I love these nighttime matches. Obviously, the crowd were here to support Taylor but I played really well.”

Murray will now play the No16 seed Marin Cilic in the fourth round.

The Guardian describe Dent as ” a talented player with an imaginative range of shots and a serve that would fell an elephant in a hurry, who was simply demoralised. Likewise, the home crowd, which had stayed late to cheer on the all-American boy only to find he had been sent into battle against a full-grown man.”

Want to see another side of Andy Murray? Check out his interview with Jonathon Ross here on t5m.

Who is your favourite tennis player of all time?