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Hopes of a nation lie with Murray

Andy Murray receives the traditional defending men’s champion’s honour of opening play on Centre Court when Wimbledon gets under way today.

The Scot begins his quest against Belgium’s David Goffin at 1pm, with that clash followed by women’s second seed Li Na of China taking on Poland’s Paula Kania.

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.”

Things have changed, of course, with the Scot now able to see his name on the honours board and Fred Perry pushed a little further back into history.

But Murray’s goal remains the same, to win grand slams, and the perfectionist inside him will not allow him to be satisfied with past glories.

He said: “I think tomorrow, I need to enjoy that moment when I walk back on the court.

“But as soon as I start playing the match, it’s about trying to win. And I enjoy winning. I don’t really want to go out on the court tomorrow and enjoy playing and then lose.

“It’s time when I get on the court to start concentrating. Not think about last year, concentrate on this year’s tournament and that’s it.”

Men’s top seed Novak Djokovic tackles Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev in the third and final match due on the All England Club’s principal show court.

Victoria Azarenka, Queen’s Club champion Grigor Dimitrov and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga provide the star quality on Court One, while five-time women’s champion Venus Williams plays Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor on Court Two.

Murray clearly represents the best home hop but British men’s number two Dan Evans will look to impress when he faces Russian Andrey Kuznetsov in the third match on Court Two, while James Ward faces a testing assignment against Russian 17th seed Mikhail Youzhny, second up on Court Three.

Of the other Britons, Kyle Edmund will have high hopes as the 19-year-old heads into a late-afternoon match against Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer on Court 12.

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