Andy Murray faces Novak Djokovic in second Wimbledon final
7 Juli 2013
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WIMBLEDON 2013 MEN'S FINAL
- Venue: All England Club, London
- Date: Sunday, 7 July
- Time: 14:00 BST
Coverage: Live on BBC TV, 3D, BBC HD Channel, Red Button, BBC Radio 5 live, plus the BBC Sport website, tablet, mobile and connected TV.
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Andy Murray will have to beat world number one Novak Djokovic if he is to win his first Wimbledon title and end Britain's 77-year-wait for a men's champion on Sunday.
The top two seeds will meet on Centre Court at 14:00 BST, and Murray will hope to go one better than losing to Roger Federer in last year's final.
"I think I'll be probably in a better place mentally," said the Scot.
"I would hope so just because I've been there before."
He added: "I've won a Grand Slam - I would hope I would be a little bit calmer going into Sunday."
All 15,000 tickets for Centre Court have already been sold, but spectators began queuing in the early hours of Saturday morning just to get inside the All England Club and grab a place in front of the big screen.
The television audience peaked at 13.2 million for Murray's semi-final win - the highest BBC figures of 2013 - but those heading out to watch the final can at least be fairly certain that rain will not be a factor, with the temperature forecast to push 30C during the match.
Murray, 26, practised for an hour at the nearby Aorangi Park courts on Saturday morning, running through drills with his coaching team of Ivan Lendl and Dani Vallverdu.
On Sunday he will join Fred Perry and Bunny Austin as the only British men to reach multiple Wimbledon finals since the knockout format was introduced in 1922 - but it is Perry's 1936 victory he is desperate to emulate.
The final will be the third in the last four Grand Slams involving Murray and Djokovic, with the Briton winning his first major title at last year's US Open and the Serb winning his sixth at the Australian Open in January.
Djokovic, a week younger than Murray, has an 11-7 record in previous matches between the pair, but was extended over nearly five hours in his semi-final win against Juan Martin Del Potro, while the Scot needed under three hours to beat Jerzy Janowicz.
"I favour Murray," three-time champion John McEnroe told BBC Sport.
"I think that the physical aspect of Djokovic's semi-final is going to have some impact. Novak is a truly, truly great player - both of these guys are - but I think the crowd is going to give Andy that extra 5-10%.
"When you toss all that into the mix, it's going to be a fantastic final, but at the end of the day I think Murray is ready. He's ready to finally do it."
Murray can take confidence from a 17-match winning streak on grass that includes his only meeting with Djokovic on the surface, a straight-sets win in last year's Olympic semi-final.
However, he has won just one of his five previous Grand Slam finals compared to Djokovic's six wins in 10 major finals, which include victory at Wimbledon two years ago.
"It's the biggest final in tennis that you can be a part of, so I'm very honoured to be playing in that match again," said Djokovic.
"You know, the 2011 experience and winning that trophy can maybe help me."
If any player can recover from the longest semi-final in Wimbledon history, it is the Serb, and he is not concerned about having most of the crowd against him.
"I know what to expect," said Djokovic. "He's a local hero. He has a big chance to win Wimbledon after a long time for this nation. People will be supporting him.
"I'm going to play against one of the biggest tennis players in the world in last five years. I'm ready for it."
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Andy Murray will have to beat world number one Novak Djokovic if he is to win his first Wimbledon title and end Britain's 77-year-wait for a men's champion on Sunday.
The top two seeds will meet on Centre Court at 14:00 BST, and Murray will hope to go one better than losing to Roger Federer in last year's final.
"I think I'll be probably in a better place mentally," said the Scot.
"I would hope so just because I've been there before."
He added: "I've won a Grand Slam - I would hope I would be a little bit calmer going into Sunday."
All 15,000 tickets for Centre Court have already been sold, but spectators began queuing in the early hours of Saturday morning just to get inside the All England Club and grab a place in front of the big screen.
The television audience peaked at 13.2 million for Murray's semi-final win - the highest BBC figures of 2013 - but those heading out to watch the final can at least be fairly certain that rain will not be a factor, with the temperature forecast to push 30C during the match.
Murray, 26, practised for an hour at the nearby Aorangi Park courts on Saturday morning, running through drills with his coaching team of Ivan Lendl and Dani Vallverdu.
On Sunday he will join Fred Perry and Bunny Austin as the only British men to reach multiple Wimbledon finals since the knockout format was introduced in 1922 - but it is Perry's 1936 victory he is desperate to emulate.
The final will be the third in the last four Grand Slams involving Murray and Djokovic, with the Briton winning his first major title at last year's US Open and the Serb winning his sixth at the Australian Open in January.
Djokovic, a week younger than Murray, has an 11-7 record in previous matches between the pair, but was extended over nearly five hours in his semi-final win against Juan Martin Del Potro, while the Scot needed under three hours to beat Jerzy Janowicz.
"I favour Murray," three-time champion John McEnroe told BBC Sport.
"I think that the physical aspect of Djokovic's semi-final is going to have some impact. Novak is a truly, truly great player - both of these guys are - but I think the crowd is going to give Andy that extra 5-10%.
"When you toss all that into the mix, it's going to be a fantastic final, but at the end of the day I think Murray is ready. He's ready to finally do it."
Murray can take confidence from a 17-match winning streak on grass that includes his only meeting with Djokovic on the surface, a straight-sets win in last year's Olympic semi-final.
However, he has won just one of his five previous Grand Slam finals compared to Djokovic's six wins in 10 major finals, which include victory at Wimbledon two years ago.
"It's the biggest final in tennis that you can be a part of, so I'm very honoured to be playing in that match again," said Djokovic.
"You know, the 2011 experience and winning that trophy can maybe help me."
If any player can recover from the longest semi-final in Wimbledon history, it is the Serb, and he is not concerned about having most of the crowd against him.
"I know what to expect," said Djokovic. "He's a local hero. He has a big chance to win Wimbledon after a long time for this nation. People will be supporting him.
"I'm going to play against one of the biggest tennis players in the world in last five years. I'm ready for it."
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