Early April saw another first round defeat in qualifying, this time to Luzzi at the ATP event in Valencia. There followed a somewhat surprising defeat to the Irish player Kevin Sorensen in the semi-final of a Futures event in Italy. Andy's ranking was little changed from the start of the year and hopes of getting into qualifying for Roland Garros were fading away.

But one opportunity had come Andy's way - his first match on the main ATP tour. Sanchez-Casal had used their influence to acquire a wildcard for Andy into the maindraw at the prestigious ATP tour event at Barcelona. In the first round Andy would face Jan Hernych, a steady, if unspectacular, top 100 player.

Court 4 was perhaps not the most glamourous of settings for this occasion - no seating meant spectators had to use their imagination. With reigning US Open champion and fellow Sanchez-Casal academy member Svetlana Kuznetsova cheering from the sidelines, mum Judy sat on a dustbin lid and the video analyst on a step ladder, Andy began in determined fashion.

- Full Story (murraysworld.com)