Murray vows to keep his cool at Wimbledon

Andy Murray has vowed “not to explode” at Wimbledon after seeing his hopes of a warm-up title blown away.

Murray suffered a surprise 6-7 6-4 1-6 loss to Italian Andreas Seppi in the quarter-finals of the Red Letter Days Open at Nottingham.

As the highest-ranked player left in the event at world number 45, and after straight sets wins in the previous two rounds over Dmitry Tursunov and Max Mirnyi, Murray was expected to again ease through.

But the British number two lost his cool in the closing set in chilly, windy conditions, bashing his racket on the ground as the match ebbed away.

The 19-year-old Scot, though, is determined to now play it cool at the All-England Club when the tournament starts on Monday.

He said: “They are probably the windiest conditions I’ve ever played a match in.

“At Las Vegas [in February] the conditions were so absolutely ridiculous that you couldn’t practice.

“When I played my match it was still tough, but not quite as bad as it was today, which was right up there with the toughest conditions I’ve experienced in an ATP tournament.

“It was difficult to judge anything because it was so windy. You could hit a good shot and it would finish five feet long or halfway up the net.

“On the positive side I thought I served well for most of the match, but apart from that I struggled with everything else. I was surprised at how badly I hit the ball.

“I think it was due to frustration with both the elements and myself.

“When I get to Wimbledon I will try to keep a level head and not explode like I did today.”

Murray was able to take more positives out of his last few days work than negatives, and believes he is ready for Wimbledon.

He continued: “It wasn’t a priority to play well.

“Obviously I wanted to keep playing better and better and then play my best at Wimbledon.

“But today wasn’t good. I’ll put it to the back of my mind and focus on my first two matches when I did well.

“It’s good for the confidence to win a couple of matches against two very good grass-court players.

“I’m sure the conditions will be different at Wimbledon as well. It’s normally a slighter lower bounce, and I’ve never seen wind like that there.

“I’ve only three days to prepare, so I’m not going to dwell on this defeat because I’ve a pretty important tournament coming up and I need to get myself in shape for Monday.”

Murray also feels he is mentally better equipped to cope with the expectations that will come his way over the next few days, and maybe beyond.

He added: “I think I’ve dealt with the pressure pretty well since Wimbledon last year.

“I struggled a little in Australia, but since then I’ve won my first tournament and my [world] ranking has gone up 25 places, so it’s been a good year.”

The first set was a rollercoaster affair, with both players broken on three separate occasions before Seppi, more at home on hard and clay courts and a renowned baseliner, took the tie-break 7-4.

Murray served superbly in the second set, losing just six points in five games, and breaking Seppi in the seventh to help level.

But he lost his way in the third set, and after saving three break points in the second game, he was broken in the fourth and sixth to hand Seppi his passage through to the last four.

With Murray out, last year’s champion Richard Gasquet looks favourite to retain his title after he easily thrashed fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-3 6-1.

Gasquet will face Robin Soderling in one of tomorrow’s semi-finals after the Swede beat qualifier Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 6-4 to ensure the Serb’s 22nd birthday was not one to remember.