TENNIS in DEPTH.

Andy Murray has already won 10 high-level tournaments in his short career but he craves a first title in Britain and wants to make it happen before launching his Wimbledon challenge this summer.

The world number four has confirmed his entry for the AEGON Championship at Queen’s Club, which runs from June 8-14, and is hoping to dethrone last year’s champion, Rafael Nadal, who went on to triumph at Wimbledon.

“Grass is a good surface for me and obviously it would mean a lot to me to win a tournament at home,” said the 21-year-old Scot.

“All the guys that have played well at Queen’s tend to have gone on to do well at Wimbledon, so it’s a good marker to see where your game is at.

“The tournament has got an unbelievable history and all the guys use it as pretty much the perfect preparation for Wimbledon. I think this year I’ve got a good chance of doing well.”

Murray reached the quarter-finals at Queen’s Club last year before an injured thumb ended his campaign.

He is aware of Tim Henman’s impressive record at the tournament, with the former British number one having been a runner-up on three occasions, losing to Pete Sampras and then Lleyton Hewitt twice.

Although all his singles titles and his most impressive performances have come abroad, most notably his run to last year’s US Open final, Murray wants to put on a performance in front of a home crowd.

He said: “I really enjoy playing on grass – it’s a different sort of challenge to the rest of the year. We play so much on hard courts and clay that it’s nice to have a change of scenery on the tennis court.

“I go in with the same attitude to all of the tournaments; I want to try to win them.”

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Three-time former Sony Ericsson Open semifinalist Lleyton Hewitt highlights the start of main draw action on Wednesday. The former World No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion takes a 1-0 career lead into his first round clash with Israeli lucky loser Dudi Sela in the first match of the evening session, beginning not before 7:00pm local time.

Indian wild card Sania Mirza features in the second match of the evening session as she looks to advance to the second round in Miami for the first time when she takes on France

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Jelena Dokic will try again in Miami. Since her winning week at the Aussie Open Jelena has not done well. After recording 4 great victories and making it all the way to the quarter final, she has failed to record a victory in either of the two WTA tournaments she has entered. She has been awarded another wildcard entry to the Sony Ericsson in Miami where she will face Edina Gallovitis of Romania in the first round. If she manages to win this match she will go on to face Caroline Wozniacki in the second round. Wozniacki was one of the players she beat in Australia, but she also lost to her in the first round in Memphis. Last week at Indian Wells she also lost in a first round match to Jill Craybus.

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Defending women

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Ana is seeded seventh for the Sony Ericsson Open, which begins in Miami on Wednesday. All healthy players are present, making it the strongest draw in women’s tennis.

The 21-year-old, whose previous best showing here is a quarter-final finish in her debut year of 2005, will meet Romanian world No.41 Sorana Cirstea in round one.

25th seed Agnes Svazay is a possible third round opponent, while No.11 Victoria Azarenka could await in round four. It’s a strong section of the draw, with former world top 10 players Anna Chakvetadze and Daniela Hantuchova, as well as Indian Wells semi-finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also possible opponents before the quarter-final stage.

Should she reach the last eight, Ana could play second seed Dinara Safina. Possible adversaries for Ana in the semi-finals include Russian seeds Elena Dementieva, ranked fourth, and No.8 Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Ana is in the opposite half of the draw to defending champion and world No.1 Serena Williams, as well as third seed Jelena Jankovic and No.5 Venus Williams; she cannot face any of these players until the final.

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Hi Roger,Forget about this. You can win if you can be more consistent. Good luck in Miami!

You know, Roger, I thought you hit a low last year and now I’m beginning to wonder if you’ll ever have a high again.You are beautiful to watch but too painful now…K

i love you fed
and will forever be a fan no matter what
but lets face it.
we need some help here.

Hi Roger, apart from the match you lost today, you have to know that you will always think the same about you, becasue you have the most complete repertory on the court, the most beautiful way of playing tennis, even the most beautiful clothes of all ATP! And what is more, you are a real tennis gentleman. That is why we need you, just watching you play a tennis match, it makes our worst days a little bit happier. Go on Roger! Big hug from Uruguay!

roger, it might be very hard for you now, but please make the decision, to b a dad or tennis player, both are ok, we’ll understand and support you, but please don’t let us down

Dear Roger,I personally don’t think you should forget this… you should learnt from it.You always make it to semifinals and finals but then… I don’t know, I think is something mental with Nadal and Murray. You have to study their game better. I know you can do it, you played like gods, you can play again like gods, i know it, all your fans here know it!

Best of luck in Miami, I was there last year.. this year it won’t be like that but I hope to see you in tv playing A1 like you know how to.

Hugs,

Joan (one of your fans here in Lima, Peru)

Well,I really don’t feel disappointed too much,but good luck in Miami!

well, of course it is disappointing but that’s how it goes i guess… just keep ur head high and try to be good in miami as well… i think that yeah, u have areas to improve but at the same time, the other players are getting a feel of ur game already… i just want you to continue on the passion… u won’t be winning every match, and personally, i think that u winning most of the time in those years where u dominated kinda spoiled us a little bit, that is why it is a bit shocking… but i know u work hard to compete. smile always!!! see u in miami!

My dear Roger,I hope you can find your rythm soon and I hope your back is completely healthy again.Please take a good care of yourself, there are many more battles ahead for you to win.

Onwards to Miami,
Love you & support you no matter what,
Carolina

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Newly crowned Indian Wells champion, Rafa Nadal has arrived in Miami early this morning after a successful week in California where he picked up title number 33 in his career and 2nd of the season.

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