The UAE face Sri Lanka in the semifinals of the Global qualifiers on Sunday. The winner of this match will qualify for this year's Women's T20 World Cup
Andy Murray’s preparations for his home grand slam suffered a setback on Friday when he was beaten 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 by Mardy Fish in a controversially interrupted third round tie at Queen’s Club.
Since losing the Australian Open final against Roger Federer in January, Murray has seemed to be stuck in something of a rut and his displays at Queen’s did nothing to change that feeling.
He was worryingly subdued in the defeat to Fish and has now failed to get past the quarter-finals of his last eight tournaments.
Yet Murray has never been short of self-confidence and the Scot refuses to contemplate anything less than a run to the final at Wimbledon.
“I haven’t been playing my best lately but my game is there. I just need to make sure I find it in time for Wimbledon,” Murray said.
“That’s where it’s most important for me to play my best tennis and hopefully I’ll do that.
“My expectations are high on myself, and every year I said the same thing. Whether everybody thinks I’m going to win or thinks I’m going to lose, I’m going to try my best to win the tournament.
“I have a chance of doing it if I play very well. It’s going to be difficult, but I’ll put pressure on myself to perform.
“Normally when I put pressure on myself to do well I play my best tennis. I’m hoping I’ll play well there.”
While Murray is convinced he will be ready to go by the time Wimbledon starts in just over a week, he did concede that he could have done with more time on grass after a long clay-court campaign.
“I would have liked to have played a couple more matches, but I’ve gone into Wimbledon in previous years and played well having not played that many matches going in,” Murray said.
“I’m sure come Wimbledon I’ll be playing a lot better than I was here, but I would have liked to have had a couple more matches.”
Murray was understandably aggrieved when he was forced to resume the match on Friday after play was suspended the previous evening due to bad light.
The 23-year-old had been desperate to carry on as the momentum was with him at that point and launched a furious verbal blast at the officials for failing to consult with him before halting play.
His French Open defeat to Tomas Berdych had also been played late in the evening in Paris and he suggested the introduction of a device for officials to measure the quality of the light.
“Everyone was talking about it at the French,” he said. “There should be a light reading so that takes away whether anybody is unhappy (about play being stopped).
“It would just be a rule that you come off if the light isn’t good enough rather than sort of one person making a decision.”
Murray also saved some anger for the doping authorities, who made him spend over two hours trying to give a drugs test sample after a doubles match earlier in the week.
“I came off the court, went to the locker room, went to the bathroom, got changed, had ice on my knee and picked my bag up to leave, then I got told I had to do a drugs test,” Murray said.
“Normally you’re told straightaway. It’s two and a half hours sitting there when you’re trying to prepare for a match the following day. It was just a drag.”
The UAE face Sri Lanka in the semifinals of the Global qualifiers on Sunday. The winner of this match will qualify for this year's Women's T20 World Cup
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