ANDY MURRAY insists the responsibility of being the only British male left at Wimbledon will not affect his chances of claiming a maiden Grand Slam title.
Murray takes on Latvian Ernests Gulbis for a place in the third round this afternoon, with his first-round win over Robbie Kendrick having spared British blushes after Alex Bogdanovic, Josh Goodall, Dan Evans and James Ward all fell at the first hurdle.
It is 73 years since a British male claimed a Wimbledon singles title, and the weight of expectation now falls squarely on Murray’s shoulders.
But having ended a similarly lengthy wait for a Queen’s Club triumph earlier this month, the Scotsman claims he is not afraid to go it alone over the course of the next 11 days.
“I’m not worrying about what the other British guys are doing,” said Murray, who will play either Viktor Troicki or Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the third round if he comes through today’s game. “I’m worrying about my own game and my own tennis.
“Regardless of whether there’s ten Brits in the tournament or just one, I’m still just going to take care of my own business and not worry about what’s going on with the other players.
“When you start doing that, that’s when you get distracted, when you’re not putting 100 per cent focus on yourself. That’s what I’m going to need to do over the next couple of weeks.”
Murray has won both of his previous matches against Gulbis, but things were tight in the last 16 of last year’s Queen’s Club Championship when the Scot lost the opening set en route to a 5-7 6-1 6-4 win.
Gulbis is ranked number 74 in the world and was as high as 38 last August.
Fellow Scot Elena Baltacha is also in second-round action today, with a match against Belgian Kirtsen Flipkens the reward for Tuesday’s success over Alona Bondarenko
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