Tennis star is also good at kicking things

Taking time out of his busy schedule of looking grumpy and doing impossible-looking press-ups, Wimbledon hopeful Andy Murray sat down for a chat with Channelbee, the web TV station owned by Spoiler fan Tim Lovejoy.

Skip to [1.45] in the video to see Murray doing some extremely impressive keep-ups with a tennis ball. Isn’t it annoying how some people are naturally good at every sport?

[Spotted on OTP]

Handsome meets angry at the home of English football

As part of a campaign intended to help raise awareness of malaria, David Beckham had the pleasure of playing football and tennis with Scotland’s grumpiest sportsman at Wembley on Tuesday.

The Spoiler doesn’t feel any more aware of malaria for watching this, but we couldn’t help notice two things. Firstly, Beckham appears to jump on the anti-Wembley turf bandwagon by calling attention to the unpredictability of the bounce. And secondly, Andy Murray seems to be taken in by AC Milan star’s charms. “You hit like you’ve played before,” he says, lost in Beckham’s eyes…

[Spotted on Off The Post]

A brief tennis interlude and super special offer interrupts The Spoiler’s normal football programming…

Andy Murray has barely broken sweat so far but that will change against Jurgen Melzer. chickendinner fancy the Austrian to take a set but if you disagree, Betfair generously offer 1.52 on Murray winning in straight sets:

» Murray won all three of his meetings against Melzer last year but has yet to conquer him in straight sets.

» Even when the Brit enjoyed his best ever Grand Slam at last year’s US Open, he had to work hard to overcome Melzer in the third round. The Austrian went two sets up before Murray came back to win.

» Murray has only once got through the first three rounds of a Grand Slam without dropping a set.

Are you an early bird? Murray is due on court at 8.30am on Saturday and you can watch him free of charge live on Betfair just by opening an account. Click here to do that and claim a free £10 bet.

A brief tennis interlude and super special offer interrupts The Spoiler’s normal football programming…

Andy Murray is just 1.02 to beat Marcel Granollers and 1.26 to win in straight sets in his Aussie Open game that is scheduled to be played at around 9.30am tomorrow (UK time). So without backing heavily, there isn’t much money to be made. Instead, our amigos at chickendinner point you in the direction of the “1st Set Correct Score” market where enticing odds of 4.0 are available on Murray winning 6-2:

» At the Qatar Open, six of Murray’s ten set wins were achieved by a 6-2 scoreline, including the opening sets in his first and second round matches.

» Murray started his first round Australian Open match against Andrei Pavel with a 6-2 opening set victory too.

» The last set the two players contested against one another in Barcelona three years ago finished 6-2 in the Brit’s favour.

Need somewhere to watch Murray at work tomorrow morning? You can catch all the show court action live on Betfair for nothing just by opening an account. Click here to sign-up and claim a free £10 bet.

A brief tennis interlude and super special offer interrupts The Spoiler’s normal football programming…

Andy Murray was eliminated in the first round of last year’s Australian Open having raised expectations by winning the Qatar Open. Now he’s all muscly and that, a repeat is unlikely, but it’s worth noting that his opponent tonight Andrei Pavel [60 at Betfair] is rarely humiliated:

• With the exception of the French Open, Pavel hasn’t lost a first round match at a Grand Slam in straight sets since Wimbledon 1999.

• The previous meeting between the duo in the first round of the 2005 US Open went to five sets before Murray triumphed.

• Britain’s number one dropped sets in his first round matches at two of the four Grand Slams last year.

Murray triumphing in four sets is 7 while if you anticipate a real struggle he is 17 to win 3-2. The action starts at midnight tonight on British Eurosport and also live on Betfair. You can claim a free £10 bet when opening a Betfair account here.

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