MURRAY WINS QUEEN'S
British No.1 secure's his first grass title
Andy Murray admits he will have to "play his greatest tennis ever" to win Wimbledon.
The 22-year-old Scot became the first British champion at Queen's since Bunny Austin's triumph in 1938 when he defeated American James Blake in straights sets in the final of the AEGON Championships.
Murray beat the 29-year-old New Yorker 7-5 6-4 to win his first grass title on home soil.
The Briton played sublime grass court tennis all week and did not drop a set but he knows he will have to raise his game to an all-time high to beat the likes of defending champions Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to land the SW19 crown.
"I don't think it's impossible and I go into every tournament with the mentality that I can win the event," said Murray.
"If I make the quarter-finals, semi-finals of a Grand Slam, I don't view it as a terrible tournament.
"But I go on with the mentality that I'm going to win it and it will have to be my best tennis ever to do it. I mean it's so difficult to do.
"That's why no-one in Britain's done it for such a long time, because it is that difficult. A lot of people don't understand how tough it is.
"And especially right now with the guys who are in front of me in the rankings (Federer and Nadal), and even the ones that are just behind me, there are some great players out there.
"They've competed in so many and won so many of the big tournaments the last few years and I'm going to have to beat them if I want to do it. That's not an easy thing to do."
Murray is determined to keep away from the limelight and avoid the hype which will inevitably follow his success here.
He continued: "I'm not planning on getting caught up in the whole hype and pressure, because I don't think that helps if you do.
"You can let the pressure affect you if you want to. You can let the expectation get to you if you really want to - but I'm just going to play tennis and not worry about the rest of the stuff, because I don't think it's good for your game."
However, Murray gets excited about having his name on a trophy that includes some the game's greats - many of them Wimbledon winners.
He added: "It's pretty special. There have been some great grass court players from Britain the last 70 odd years.
"Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski were both very good grass court players. There are a lot of great, great players on the trophy, so to be on it is great.
Obviously because a British player hasn't won it for so long, it makes it nicer.
"They have the names on the board on the way up to the locker room. John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Nadal and Rod Laver won here as well.
"I'm not a Wimbledon winner unfortunately but I'm going to try my best to try and change that."
Losing finalist Blake paid tribute to Murray and insisted the Scot, on his day, could beat anybody in the world.
But the American, ranked number six in the tournament, still believes Roger Federer will triumph at Wimbledon.
"Andy played well," said Blake. "He's got the ability to beat anyone in the world. I think he has beaten just about everyone in the world at some point.
"It's just a matter of doing it at the right time. He's definitely a possibility to win Wimbledon.
"He always does a great job of mixing things up, not playing one way all the time. Whether it's moving forward, staying back and chipping, he uses his variety very well.
"I think he's one of the best in the world of having that variety.
"His hands are so good that he can really do almost everything with the ball.
He served a lot better at times today than he did a couple years ago when I played him.
"I'd go with Federer as favourite for Wimbledon. He's the best grass court player over the last six or seven years."
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