Andy Murray’s roof plea in final bid

James Olley
2 Jul 2009

Andy Murray has urged the All England Club to give him 30 minutes' notice if his Wimbledon semi-final against Andy Roddick is to be played under the Centre Court roof.

After a dramatic five-set win over Stanislas Wawrinka on Monday, the 22-year-old criticised tournament officials over their late decision to use the £80million cover.

Murray has since clarified his concerns over the high humidity in the closed arena but with the threat of rain forecast all afternoon tomorrow, the world No3 said: "The one thing that I think is important, is that if you are going to play under the roof, you need to know half an hour in advance.

"That's all that I would ask for, which I don't think is unreasonable. I was a bit disappointed before. I think it was kind of made out I was complaining about the roof when I wasn't at all.

"I guess it was the first match ever to play under the roof and I was asked how the conditions were. I gave an honest and pretty fair assessment of how it played. It does play slower, which is not a complaint. It's more humid.

"But it doesn't make a difference to how I'm going to approach the match against Andy. You just have to alter your game style slightly because it's a slower court. But I don't mind if it's indoors or outdoors."

The slower conditions are unlikely to suit Roddick's powerful game, the foundation of which remains a fearsome serve that ultimately saw him past Australian Lleyton Hewitt last night.

After three hours and 50 minutes of gripping entertainment, the No6 seed edged a thriller 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals for the fourth time at the All England Club.

Roddick, who also played down any physical concerns after such a long match, said: "I'd kind of rather know what I was in for with the roof than have it be a surprise but that's not really something I have too much control over. You just deal with it the best you can.

“I felt fine out there physically. I'm sure I'll pull up a little bit sore tomorrow, but that's to be expected. That's not a new condition. At this point I feel fit and I feel healthy. I'm in better shape now at 26 years old than I was when I was 24. It shouldn't be too much of a factor.”

Hewitt believes Roddick faces a massive task as he bids to reach his third final at SW19.
Roddick has only won two of his eight meetings with Murray and former world No1 Hewitt said: “When I've seen Andy Murray at his best, I think he matches up extremely well against Roddick.

“A couple of years ago I saw them play here because they were in my section and Murray took care of him convincingly. Murray is a lot better player now than he was then, so Roddick's going to have to play a helluva match to win.”

One interested spectator as Murray becomes only the third British man after Tim Henman and Roger Taylor to play in a modern era semi-final at Wimbleon will be rising star Laura Robson.

The 15-year-old missed Murray's easy 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero yesterday as she was exiting the girls' event thanks to a defeat to Holland's Quirine Lemoine.

Robson is now determined to cheer Murray on to the title, and is hoping to learn something on the way. She said: “I'll be going as a bit of a fan because I know Andy quite well and I think he's got a really good chance.

“But I also believe I can learn a lot from how he plays, especially on his returns, he manages to get a good percentage on them.”