Murray Moves On Where Others Have Fallen

Back in 2009 Andy Murray became the first man to play under the new roof of centre court; a five set marathon with Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka persisted long into the night before the home favourite was finally crowned victorious in a fourth round epic.

Four years later Murray’s game has rocketed to new heights, now an Olympic gold medallist and US Open champion, propelling him up to world number 2.  So when faced with the same task of closing the day’s play under the enclosed roof there was no such drama for the newly formed Brit.

No problems for Murray as he reaches the second week 

After the unprecedented events of Wednesday, where many of Murray’s main challengers were eliminated from the draw, the expectations for the British number one to make his second successive appearance in the Wimbledon final are higher than ever.

Murray’s third round opponent lay in the shape of Tommy Robredo, a man who was ranked number five in the world when Murray first appeared on the tennis tour as an inexperienced eighteen year old. How times have changed.

Although, now 31, Robredo appears to have kick started his career reaching the quarter final of the French Open three weeks ago where he made history becoming the first man to come back from two sets down on three successive occasions.       

However his game on grass did little to trouble physical specimen of Murray who would have been wary but unconvinced of a Robredo revival. Murray’s thunderous  groundstrokes and dominant serve combined to create a master class under the beaming lights of centre court which lasted barely 2 hours with a score of 6-2 6-4 7-5. And it was all over before 8pm.

Murray will know more than anyone that he can’t take anyone lightly, especially after the astonishing wipe-outs of Federer, Nadal and Tsonga earlier this week. However due to their misfortune the highest ranked player in Murray’s half of the draw is now Mikhail Youzhny seeded 20, who has never reached the semi final of a Grand Slam and could face the Brit in the next round.

On paper there is little to stand in Murray’s way of claiming his maiden Wimbledon title until the prospect of Novak Djokovic in a potential mouth watering final. But in these craziest of Championships who knows what could happen?

What we do know is that Murray’s route to the second week of his home Slam couldn’t have been more straight forward, in three matches’ he is still yet to drop a set and has spent less than six hours on court.

Like Murray, Robredo hadn’t lost a set on his way to their third round encounter. The Spaniard made the perfect start by holding his opening service game, however he soon fell a victim to Murray’s command as the 2^nd seed controlled the match from the back of the court breaking twice to lead 4-1.

Under the roof the acoustics off the player’s rackets sent a booming echo around the crowd, but it was Murray’s tune they were listening to. Robredo’s only other game came from a sudden lapse in concentration from Murray which led to the Spaniard only break in the entire match. Apart from that the set was almost faultless from the Brit and it was over in 34 minutes.

Murray’s pressure was relentless; everything Robredo tried was clinically cannoned back by the determined Murray who clinched another break at the start of the second set.

However Robredo’s phenomenal comebacks at the French Open earned him the nickname of the ironman, a name he began to respond too. The Spaniard was forced to fight hard, just to hold his own serve which Murray continuously threatened.

Robredo’s efforts kept the set to a single break but Murray’s immaculate serving made sure he secured a two set lead. The third set continued to go with serve due to Robredo’s aggressive play but at 5-5 Murray possessed the power raise his game even more.

After sealing the decisive break Murray was left serving for the match. Robredo never stopped as he fended off the first match point, but with just over two hours played Murray soundly ended the Robredo challenge and booked himself a comfortable place in week two.

Murray said after the match “I thought I struck the ball really well from the start of the match, I had a lot of winners and that was probably the most pleasing”

Murray continued the British success on centre court following Laura Robson’s second round victory over Mariana Duque-Marino with the score 6-4 6-1. In the men’s draw 24^th seed Jerzy Janowitz followed Robson on centre where he produced a remarkable serving performance hitting 30 aces to see off 15^th seed Nicolas Almagro 7-6(6) 6-3 6-4. At 6 foot 8 Janowitz could prove Murray’s biggest challenger in the bottom half of the draw however the pair could only meet in the semi final.

So just like four year ago after he saw off Wawrinka, Murray has his eyes on that illustrious first Wimbledon trophy. The difference being with an Olympic gold, a US open title and a draw which has opened up better than anyone could have expected Murray’s chances compared to the past appear greater than ever.