'Djokovic going out doesn't guarantee anything'

  • Posted: Jul 03, 2016
Wimbledon on the BBC
Venue: All England Club Dates: 27 June-10 July
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Ivan Lendl is a great person to have on the team when expectations start to build around me because he’s been through the same experience himself.

The year I won Wimbledon, I was seeded to meet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals and Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal in the semi-finals, but they all went out early.

I remember that made it hard in terms of everyone focusing on me from early in the tournament and I spoke with Ivan about it at the time, because it’s an extra thing to deal with.

The difference between this year and 2013 is those players were all in my section of the draw, and so their losses had quite a direct effect, whereas Novak Djokovic losing on Saturday won’t have any bearing on me at all unless I reach the final.

I couldn’t help but notice the noise from the crowd when Novak’s score flashed up on the Centre Court scoreboard, but I only thought about it for a few seconds. It doesn’t guarantee anything.

The players left in my section of the draw are still formidable.

You’ve got Nick Kyrgios, who’s beaten Rafa on Centre Court before; Feli Lopez, who’s a very good grass-courter; Tsonga is one of the best grass-court players in the world; not many players want to play John Isner; Richard Gasquet’s still in there and he made the semis last year.

There are some pretty decent players left in my way, so I’m not getting carried away.

‘We had a group chat and made a plan’

I don’t have a weather app on my phone but a couple of the guys in my team do, and it’s fair to say they’ve been checking them pretty regularly over the past week.

A British summer like this one can be a nightmare for spectators, organisers and players.

We tend to speak to the tour managers regularly on days when there is rain around to find out what the plan is, when the matches will start and what the outlook is, because they often have the best forecasts.

Some players are pushier than others about constantly trying to get updates – I personally don’t.

The coaches will sometimes try to get a heads up to find out what time you’re going to play, but I tend to talk to the guys on my team.

It can be tricky when the schedule doesn’t come out until late because if you’re scheduled to play at 11am, for example, you might want to go to bed at 10.30pm as you’re getting up early.

When you get your schedule you have to plan out your day – what time you get up, what you’re going to eat, when you’re going to practise and then chat about the match with your team.

I went on at 2.30pm on Saturday, so for me it wasn’t much of an issue.

I got a message past 10pm the night before saying I was second on Centre Court, so we just had a group chat where everyone messaged each other, made a plan and then spoke about the match the following morning.

‘Delayed matches can be mentally tiring’

You can make requests around when and where you play – I normally have one match on court one each year, so this time I asked to play there in the second round, but obviously it’s up to the organisers to decide.

It’s obviously an advantage to play on Centre Court at Wimbledon because the roof means you know your match is going to get finished, whatever the weather.

I personally prefer playing outdoors, but on a rainy day like Saturday I’m in a position where I got through to the fourth round and don’t have to worry about coming back and finishing.

That will be the case for my next opponent, with Nick and Feli unable to finish on Saturday, and mentally that can be tiring.

I experienced it at the French Open against Radek Stepanek when I was two sets down and had to finish the next day. It was a stressful situation – but more mentally than physically taxing.

Whichever of them gets through, I’m sure they will be physically fine and in confident mood for our match on Monday.

Andy Murray was talking to BBC Sport’s Piers Newbery.

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