Andy Murray opponent compares star to fine wine

Tennis champion Andy Murray kicks of the defence of his US Open title today against an opponent who has compared the Scotsman to fine wine.

Murray begins his bid for back-to-back US Opens at New York’s Flushing Meadows this evening, against Frenchman Michaël Llodra, who owns a wine bar in Dijon and a vineyard in Burgundy.

Llodra said: “Andy would probably be a sweet wine – a Sauternes, like a Château d’Yquem or something like that. When you’re on the court against him you can feel that it’s impossible to move him or to win the point. It’s not easy. When you watch him on TV you can see that he doesn’t have a really big weapon, but when you’re on the court you can feel something strong from him.”

Llodra, 33, is coming to the end of his career and has failed to beat Murray in any of their three previous meetings. In describing himself as a wine he added: “I would be a wine from the Rhône Valley, something like a Côte-Rôtie. Some years it’s good and some years it’s bad.”

Llodra’s vineyard is in Gevrey-Chambertin and the tennis star said the wine produced is not bad. He told the press conference: “It’s premier cry. It’s small. We produce 5,000 bottles a year. It’s not a lot, but it’s not bad.”