KATCHING MY I: Imperious Murray must not count his chickens as Brit sails into fourth round

Friday 28 June 2013

Imperious Murray must not count his chickens as Brit sails into fourth round

PUBLISHED: 23:11, 28 June 2013 | UPDATED: 23:11, 28 June 2013

So, Andy Murray has reached the sanctuary of the middle weekend at Wimbledon intact, avoiding becoming one of the gruesome statistics that have littered the opening rounds.

No sooner had he walked on court for his primetime slot against Tommy Robredo than the computer was whirring out the fact the players who make up the top 10 in men’s and women’s tennis have never fared so poorly in a Grand Slam, at least not in the open era going back to 1968.

Only half have survived until the first Saturday and Murray is among them, having come through against Robredo in a shade over two hours, an impressive result given the quality of the assault mounted against him. It is tempting to say a relaxing weekend awaits but, given that the highest seed left in his half is No 20, it will be impossible for Murray to escape the thought that a massive opportunity awaits starting from Monday’s fourth round.

Marching on: Andy Murray was in dominant form once again as he beat Tommy Robredo in the third round

This is clearly playing on his mind as he referenced it several times last night, the struggle to shut out the clamorous voices already saying this is his tournament to lose, or at least his final to play in.

‘There’s a lot more pressure on me now with them (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal) being out. I don’t read the papers but they are there in the locker room and you see some of the headlines and stuff, it’s not that helpful,’ he said, raising a wan smile.

‘You need to be professional enough not to let that stuff bother you and just concentrate on each match. I did a good job of that today, I played well, my best match of the tournament so far.’

This is the kind of situation in which his main coach, Ivan Lendl, earns his corn, passing on first-hand experience of the times when he would face supposedly overmatched opposition, when there was everything to lose. Next week is going to be as much a psychological test as a physical one.

Murray faces either Serbia’s Victor Troicki, the world No 44, or more likely that surviving 20th seed, Mikhail Youznhy, of Russia, who are waiting for the weather to clear on Saturday.

Unstoppable: Murray will now play either Viktor Troicki or Mikhail Youzhny in the fourth round

Straight sets: Murray didn't have everything his own way but Robredo couldn't find the shots to trouble him

The latter is a particularly useful grass-court operator but would expect to be beaten over five sets by the world No 2.

The looming factor might be the 6ft 8in Pole Jerzy Janowicz, an explosive talent who took out Spain’s Nicolas Almagro, the highest seed left in Murray’s half. So far there has been no sign of Janowicz’s brittle temperament coming to the fore and you wonder if he could do some damage to Murray’s second serve, which still looks a tad vulnerable at times.

But that is still to look too far ahead because, as Robredo showed, there are not many pushovers in Grand Slams, even when so many seeds have been scattered to the wind.

The Spaniard, 31, threw everything at him, as befitting a man who at the French Open came back in three successive matches from two sets down before going out in the quarter-finals.

Murray needed to be every inch the player who has now won 14 consecutive grass-court matches and 20 out of his last 21 — the exception being last year’s final here.

Famous faces: Ross Hutchins and Michael McIntyre chat during the match

That is quite some reservoir of form to go in with on a surface which sees him move so beautifully for a big man, the only one on which he gets around better than his chief rival, Novak Djokovic.

It also helped that, including the half-and-half Federer final, this was the fifth time he had played under the Centre Court roof that slightly thickens the air and shuts out interfering elements. There was wonderfully clean hitting as a result, Murray striking the ball as cleanly as the watching Sir Bobby Charlton would put foot to leather.

The first set was supremely accomplished from Murray bar one game and in the second he needed to fight off a tenacious challenge that saw Robredo force a break back point as the home favourite attempted to serve out at 5-4.

Robredo got better and better until he finally slipped up at 5-5 in the third, to the evident relief of his opponent, who closed it out from there. Murray could have served better, but, in Benjamin Becker, Yen Hsun Lu and Robredo, he has faced down and overcome three competent grass court players without so much as the loss of a set.

No wonder people are looking ahead in this kind of form, but it is dangerous white noise that Murray must filter out.