Murray to test his wrist as Federer seeks Wimbledon history

By Bill Scott Jun 23, 2007, 18:54 GMT

London - As Roger Federer takes aim at a fifth straight Wimbledon title starting on Monday, Britain's Andy Murray could make a bit of personal history as he gives his injured wrist a high- profile stress test.

The Scot announced Saturday that barring unforeseen dramas, he would be ready to play for the first time in six weeks in his first- round match at the All England Club, taking on Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador.

'Hopefully, the next couple of days it should get better,' eighth seed Murray said of his problem which kept him away from the clay season and the first two weeks on grass.

'Wimbledon was my goal and I think I've given myself the best chance. It feels like it's going to be okay.'

The 20-year-old said that he hit for two hours on Saturday and would test the wrist on Sunday as well as Monday on the practise court. If anything was not quite right, he wouldn't take the risk of stepping onto court.

'If it's not ready I won't play.'

Murray, the British number one and standard-bearer for home hopes, beat two-time finalist Andy Roddick a year ago before going out a round later to Marcos Baghdatis.

He has been undergoing physio in London for the past month and said he actually enjoyed the time away.

'But if I had to choose between playing and not playing, obviously I would have preferred to play,' said the youngster who earned his last victory in March.

'I've been playing some sets in the last few days and haven't had any bad reactions on my wrist. It's been getting better every day.

'But I'm not going to stress about it. If the wrist's not right it's not right.

'I've spoken to the doctors and they are fairly confident I won't re-injure it, which is great.'

Federer, meanwhile will attempt to match the run of five straight last set by Bjorn Borg 1976-1980.

The world number one Swiss has 10 Grand Slam titles and faces Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili in the opening match on Monday.

The top seed may be bucking the odds as his start as title holder will be his first match on grass this season.

After losing another French Open final to Rafael Nadal a fortnight ago, Federer withdrew from the Halle, Germany, grass event which he has won for the last four years in tandem with his Wimbledon honours.

The last man to win Wimbledon without playing in a tune-up was Andre Agassi in 1992.

Rival Nadal, losing finalist on the lawns at the last Wimbledon edition, doesn't think Federer is taking too much of a chance by fronting up without matches under his belt.

'He is favourite here, he is better than other players,' said Spain's world number two. 'He is normally without problems (on grass). 'He always wins tough matches, in three sets without a lot of problems. That's going to help him a lot.'