Champ Murray ready to battle

Andy Murray was welcomed back to Wimbledon with a reminder that the hopes of a nation are once again on his shoulders.

He may have ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s singles champion 12 months ago but there is a new tournament to be won and expectations are sky-high.

If Murray was under any illusion that the pressure had lifted, that was shattered in the opening 30 seconds of his pre-tournament press conference when he was told that, following England’s World Cup exit, hopes were now on him to lift the gloom. Murray hesitated before responding with a single word: “Wow.”