Rain puts Murray match on hold

Andy Murray’s quarter-final against Rafael Nadal was put on hold by rain at Wimbledon today – and could even be forced into tomorrow.

The British number one was due to face French Open champion Nadal in the second match on Centre Court following defending champion Roger Federer’s match with Mario Ancic.

However, light rain meant the covers were on at the scheduled start time of 1pm, and Wimbledon officials announced they expected the rain to continue until 4pm.

Federer’s previous matches have lasted an average of 97 minutes and Murray will be hoping for a similar result in order to avoid another 9.30pm finish as he had in his fourth-round win over Richard Gasquet.

“I think you have to stay patient, it looks like there could be some breaks and you have to try and stay relaxed and not think too much about it,” Murray told BBC2.

“I know Rafa had experience of it last year, you have to just stay relaxed and if you’re in the middle of a match not rush things.

“I practised yesterday for about an hour and didn’t do too much, stayed off my feet and I feel okay today.”