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Andy Murray gets his 2011 Wimbledon campaign underway this afternoon as he faces world number 56 Daniel Gimeno-Traver on Centre Court.
As ever, Murray will have an expectant home crowd behind him on the opening day of the Championships and he will look to repay this with a comfortable victory.
The Scotsman must be focused in the early rounds at SW19 as his opponents will look to raise their game against the home favourite. A match with Murray means a match on centre court too, so it is a big deal for whoever he comes up against.
This includes Gimeo-Traver who will look to do all he can to take the game to Murray and make sure it is a competitive contest.
This wouldn’t be the worst thing for British No.1 either. Of course he wants to save some energy for the latter stages, but to get the ball rolling with a comfortable yet competitive victory would be perfect.
As far as his preparation for the biggest tournament of all, Murray believes he has never been in better shape – both physically and mentally.
Ahead of this afternoon’s match, he has explained how his diet and training “is more specific than it’s ever been” and that he is in a very good place at the moment.
Murray is certainly in confident mood. He seems very content with his game right now and doesn’t appear to be affected by the annual Wimbledon fever that hits the country.
In fact, he has vowed to use the home crowd as a positive to help his game rather than one that puts it under extra pressure than normal.
As he rightly says, in football and cricket, home advantage is always seen as a significant positive, so why can that not be the case in tennis too?
Looking at Murray’s opponent for this afternoon, Gimeno-Traver is a 25-year-old Spaniard who has yet to progress beyond the third round of a major tournament.
He will be desperate to raise his game on centre court though and show those simply turning up to see a Murray victory what he is capable of. It is certainly a great chance for him to make a name for himself.
Having said that, you have to back the British No.1 to come out on top here. He is in good form, is injury-free and seemingly more determined than ever.
Murray needs to take one game at a time, but hopefully today’s match will be just the start of a successful Wimbledon campaign.
