By Niall Clarke
- Andy Murray will kick off his Montreal Masters campaign against Tommy Robredo
- The last time these two met Robredo gave Murray a two fingered salute during the handshake
- Murray leads the head to head 5-2
Montreal Quebec, Canada- Andy Murray will kick off his Canadian masters’ campaign against an all too familiar opponent in Tommy Robredo on Tuesday night.
The Briton- who recently announced he is to become a father next February- will play Robredo for the third time in less than 12 months, with their previous two meetings both being three set thrillers.
Murray defeated the Spaniard to win the Shenzhen open last year in three sets 5-7 7-6(9) 6-1, and then went on to repeat that feat a week later in Valencia 3-6 7-6(7) 7-6(8). After another long and thrilling contest, Robredo paid his respects to the Scot in a rather unusual way. The world number 22 gave a two fingered salute to the Brit as Murray approached the net for the traditional post match handshake- Don’t worry it was not meant as an insult!
In fact Murray has thwarted Robredo in their past 5 meetings with the first two going the way of the 33 year old. Now as they prepare for their eighth clash, the world number three will be looking for more of the same when they take to court in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
After his rather shocking and disappointing loss to Teymuraz Gabashvili, many wondered what exactly was wrong with the Scot. Shortly afterwards, news broke that Andy and his wife Kim were expecting their first child.
“I’m more concerned about the baby being healthy,” Murray said when asked if he was thinking about how fatherhood would affect his career. (Source: BBC SPORT)
“We’re both extremely happy and feel very lucky. It’s very exciting news, but it’s also private news. There’s stuff we want to keep close to our friends and family and I hope that everybody can respect that.”
The 28 year old is a former two time champion at this event, but was disappointed last year when he was ousted by eventual champion Jo Wilfried Tsonga. Murray is also competing for a number two ranking due to Roger Federer’s decision to skip this event.
“I feel OK, it always get a bit of time getting used to the hard courts,” Murray said ahead of the match.(Source: BBC SPORT)
“Not so much with the tennis, but it’s a tough surface on the body after coming from clay and grass which are a little bit more forgiving.”
Robredo has had a little bit more match practice having played a first round match to earn this meeting with Murray. The Spaniard overcame compatriot Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Monday.
Murray on the other hand played doubles alongside Indian partner Leander Paes. The pair defeated Kevin Anderson and Jeremy Chardy in 6-3, 6-1 to set up a round two clash against John peers and- you’ve guessed it- Jamie Murray. This will be the first time the brothers have gone against each other in main tour competition.
“We’ve not played each other for a long time so it’ll be nice in some ways, but also it’s not easy,” said Andy about playing his brother Jamie. (Source: BBC SPORT)
For now, Murray will be keeping his focus on Robredo who will provide another stern test for the Brit. I wonder what salute Robredo will give the Brit this time?
Murray will play Robredo on centre court at 1am Wednesday morning. If you are still up by then, you can follow the match via the Britwatch live scoring service:
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