Wimbledon 2013: Andy Murray aims to keep cool under pressure

  • Published
Media caption,

Andy Murray: Behind the scenes with world number two

Andy Murray says he has worked hard with his coach Ivan Lendl to better control his emotions during matches.

In Sunday's BBC One documentary, US Open champion Murray says one of his strengths is his tactical nous.

But the 26-year-old Briton acknowledges that when he loses his cool, his ability to "work matches out" suffers.

"If you're getting angry and worrying about what's happened in the past, you cannot use one of your best assets," said the world number two.

The Scot, who won Olympic gold at Wimbledon in the London 2012 men's singles, kicks off his SW19 campaign on Monday against Germany's world number 95 Benjamin Becker.

Barring a major upset, Murray will face far tougher challenges as the tournament progresses, with defending champion Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his half of the draw.

And Murray has revealed that Lendl has been urging him to stay calm when the pressure is on.

"He's been on me during practices and in matches all the time about just trying to look forward and forget the past," said Murray, who reached last year's Wimbledon final before losing to Federer.

The documentary also features interviews with Andy's older brother Jamie, comedian James Corden and former British number one Tim Henman.

Jamie Murray told the programme that his brother had worked hard to avoid losing his cool on court.

"I get annoyed watching him sometimes when he's in that frame of mind," he said.

"You just want to shake him a bit, but I think certainly in the last two years or so he's made a conscious effort to improve on that."

Four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Henman said of Murray: "He could sulk with the best of them at times. He had a few incidents on the court but who doesn't? He was just playing at an incredibly high level at an incredibly young age."

Away from the cameras, Murray has a very different persona according to close friend and fellow player Ross Hutchins.

"He's actually a joy to be around," said Hutchins. "He's hilarious, sarcastic, he makes jokes. Few people get to see that side of him."

Explaining Murray's on-court behaviour, Hutchins said: "He's feisty, he's competitive and he's angry often because he wants to win."

Corden added: "He takes what he does unbelievably seriously. But he takes himself not serious in any way."

You can watch the documentary again on BBC iPlayer.

Around the BBC

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.