Wimbledon Expectations Rise As Andy Murray Marches Into Queen's Final

While Andy Murray may become the first British player to win this tournament at Queen's since Bunny Austin in 1938, when it was the British grass court championships, the significance of his performances this week has been all to do with Wimbledon. In its modern guise, Tim Henman reached the final there three times, engendering Henmania in all its various shades and hues at the All England Club. The difference now, whether Murray wins or loses against James Blake, is that he really can become the first home player since Fred Perry in 1936 to win Wimbledon.

Murray, the world No3, and US Open finalist last year, is clearly a class above Henman. Those strained and strangulated cries of "Come on, Tim" that floated into the ether above Barons Court, rarely carried any conviction, let alone the belief that he would skip across London and win one of the world's four greatest tennis tournaments. His four Wimbledon semi-finals were an extraordinary effort, but it is already perfectly clear that Murray has set his sights much higher.

He had been expecting to play Andy Roddick in the final, but in the all-American semi-final the world No6, who has won this title four times, turned his right ankle at the back of the court in a freak accident. He had it heavily strapped at 4-3, but with Blake serving at 4-4, 15-0, Roddick retired and will now be hoping to be fit in time for Wimbledon, which begins a week tomorrow. Murray and Blake, who has an English mother and was the beaten finalist three years ago against Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, have met only once before in 2006 on the Hamburg clay with Blake winning 6-3 6-3.

"James hasn't had his best start to the year but he plays well on the quicker courts and he takes a lot of risks, keeps the points nice and short, and is very unpredictable. It will be tough," said Murray, which is pretty much what he has been saying all week of his next opponent. His 6-2 6-4 semi-final victory over Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, a former French Open champion in 2003, and briefly the world No1 that same year, was over in one hour and 11 minutes, with Murray hitting another nine aces. This win was every bit as impressive as his previous three, all completed at the gallop, and imbued with quality, much of it exceptional.

Small wonder the intensity of expectation is growing at a pace. "Do it at Wimbledon," came a shout as he shook hands with Ferrero, the Spaniard having frequently been nonplussed by Murray's brilliance, though the second set was much tighter as Murray lost a little of his service rhythm.

Obviously Murray is aware of the growing anticipation. "It's so easy, based on just a few matches, to get ahead of yourself," he said. "That's a problem I think that a lot of people have in this country, expecting huge things and thinking it's just going to happen. I need to go out there and make it happen.Grand slams are incredibly tough, and there's no part of me that's thinking about winning the Wimbledon title. I'm sure if I get close to doing it, it might cross my mind. But I'm a very, very long way away from doing that just now."

Yet, at the least, Murray will be expecting to justify his No3 seeding – assuming Rafa Nadal, the champion, plays – and go one better than last year's quarter-final when he lost heavily to the Spaniard. "If you get caught up in the hype it becomes an issue. I expect a lot of myself and put pressure on myself to play well. But only on each match, not to win Wimbledon just yet." Yet should he beat Blake, then Andymonium will ensue, as sure as tennis balls are tennis balls.