WIMBLEDON, London -- As a four-time Grand Slam doubles champion, Pierre-Hugues Herbert has the experience to cope with the pressures of Wimbledon.
Until you throw Andy Murray into the mix.
Frenchman Herbert, who completed a career doubles Slam with former partner Nicolas Mahut, will play alongside recent Queen's doubles winner Murray at the All England Club as the British fans' favourite continues his comeback following hip surgery in January.
"I actually feel more pressure than ever," Herbert said following his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 singles loss to No. 4 seed Kevin Anderson on Monday. "It's something so special. I'm feeling lucky, and I'm so motivated and pumped to play with Andy and to have the luck to play with him here in Wimbledon."
Herbert, 28, had initially planned to concentrate on the singles format until Murray's offer became too good to turn down.
"I'm happy that I'll have him on my side," Herbert said. "That's actually why I changed my mind, because in my first thoughts about doubles here with Andy, I was more maybe, no, I said I'm going to play only singles.
"Andy is someone who rewrote history [by becoming the first Briton to win since Fred Perry] here in Wimbledon. It's something so special to be by his side, and that's why I changed my mind, because I want to live these kind of experiences."
There was, however, slight cause for concern when Herbert walked onto Court No. 3 with heavy strapping on his right thigh ahead of his match with Anderson.
He confirmed post-match he had to stop a practice session after just 30 minutes on the eve of the Championships, after feeling an abnormal pain in his right quad -- something that had initially "scared" him, until medical tests showed everything was fine. No need to mention that to Murray, Herbert joked.
"My quad feels good, so, yeah, I hope it's going to be all right. I think it's gonna be all right," Herbert said. "I don't want to imagine me having to say anything to Andy about an injury."