ANDY MURRAY INSISTED he doesn’t expect to play every Wimbledon match on Centre Court as the home favourite ignored a storm over his Court One scheduling to surge into the quarter-finals.
Murray finally completed a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Croatia’s Marin Cilic in a fourth round match today held over from Monday due to heavy rain.
While Murray’s title rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer enjoyed an extra day of rest following their wins under the Centre Court roof on Monday, the 25-year-old Scot — scheduled on the uncovered Court One — was forced to dodge the showers before seeing off Cilic.
The move was criticised by British fans and media, but the three-time Wimbledon semi-finalist played down the row.
“I honestly don’t care which court I play on. It makes no difference but obviously every player would rather be on Centre Court because you know you are going to get your match in regardless of the weather,” Murray said.
“I don’t think I deserve to play every match on Centre Court. It’s just annoying when the weather is bad.
“I haven’t always dealt with rain delays that well in the past, so it’s good experience for me. Probably from now on I will play on Centre so it won’t be a problem.”
Wimbledon chief executive Richard Lewis, speaking just before the conclusion of Murray’s match, defended the decision, saying all the top players must have at least one tie away from Centre Court and this was the British number one’s turn.
“We do what’s right in the overall interest of the men’s draw and the women’s draw,” Lewis said on WimbledonLive.
Top players
“Andy has to have a turn on Number One Court, or ideally would have a turn on Number One, like all the other top players.
“He was scheduled on Number One yesterday. If the forecast had turned out to be 100 percent correct he’d have had an opportunity to finish the match.
“But once you’ve started a match on a court, you ideally finish it on that court.
“We’re certainly not being biased in one direction or another. We’re just trying to make the right call on each individual situation.”
