Andy Murray insists that his ailing hip is not hindering the defence of his Wimbledon title. Still, in quieter conversations with Ivan Lendl and the rest of his team, he may find at least a moment to reflect on a few moments of flickering anxiety in his three-set win over Benoît Paire on Centre Court.
The world No1 did what he always does: found a way. He expressed himself satisfied with his ball-striking over the two hours and 21 minutes it took to subdue Paire’s transparent yet occasionally exacting challenge, 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4, and advance to the quarter-finals for the 10th successive time.
Indeed, there was little wrong with Murray’s spring-loaded dashes to the net as he turned a string of his opponent’s telegraphed drop-shots into winning points. He admits he would have liked to serve with more consistency and he could have done without 42 unforced errors, although that is not a catastrophic number. He soaked up 10 aces and returned well enough.
Nevertheless, across the baseline – the very area where higher-calibre opponents will seek to test his mobility – he was not always a wing-footed god.
Whether or not that is a minor vulnerability Sam Querrey can exploit when they meet on Wednesday is uncertain. The American’s method is pretty uncomplicated – and he did squander four match points in the fourth set before beating Kevin Anderson, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (11), 6-3 in three hours and seven minutes on Court 18.
On Centre Court – where the grass seems to be holding up well enough after days of criticism in the dry, warm conditions – Paire wrongfooted Murray on each wing a few times in the first set, which was to his credit. But it is such a common sight to see the world No1 hunt down the impossible gets that, on those occasions when he did not return the ball with either that trademark backhand lob or running forehand crosscourt that can turn desperation into opportunity, he seemed temporarily frustrated.
He put that to rights once he had figured out the Frenchman’s threat and, as the exchanges lengthened, so Murray’s self-assurance grew.
“Like I said at the beginning of the tournament, I’ll be able to get through seven matches if that’s what I have to do,” he repeated. “Obviously, I want to try to get to the final. I’ve done a good job so far. Today was by far the best I hit the ball, the cleanest I hit the ball. I was happy about that.
“The last couple of days, practice has been really good as well. I didn’t feel great during my last match [an elongated fight to get rid of Fabio Fognini over four sets in dwindling light on Friday evening]. I didn’t feel like I played so well, not loads of rhythm in the first two matches, but I definitely felt better today. That’s positive moving into the last few days of the tournament.”
Querrey, who dumped Novak Djokovic out of the tournament on his way to the quarter-finals last year, remains upbeat about spoiling the party again. “To go back-to-back quarters is exciting,” he said. “It’s something I’ve never done before.”
As for his opponent on Wednesday, he said: “It’s going to be tough. I’ve played him in the past [eight times for a single win: on hardcourt in Los Angeles seven years ago]. He’s playing at a high level. He’s defending champion, No1 in the world. He loves playing here. The crowd is going to be behind him.
“But sometimes it’s fun to go out there and play where the crowd is behind the other player 100%. I’m going to try to play aggressive, hopefully play well and can sneak out a win.”
Their last match was a quick three-setter at the Australian Open this year before Murray suffered the unexpected shock of losing to Mischa Zverev. He wants no more surprises like that.
And “sneaking out a win” has been Murray’s speciality over the years, although he will probably be on full-bore against Querrey. After four matches of promise, he needs to find another level. The challenges beyond Querrey are considerably more difficult than even the tricky assignments he has negotiated so far. He will also need to be at or near full fitness.
As the appointed conscience of the game’s etiquette and morals, Murray was inevitably asked about scheduling that put the world No1 Angelique Kerber and the 2015 finalist Garbiñe Muguruza on No2 Court, while Novak Djokovic and the unfancied Frenchman Adrian Mannarino had the last slot on No1 Court.
Murray made perfect sense in observing: “It’s pretty much always been the case here that you got two men’s matches and a women’s match on the Centre Court. Sometimes it varies on the other courts. Ideally you would have two men’s and two women’s on Centre. Starting the matches a bit earlier would allow for that.
“At the Aussie Open, there’s three women’s matches and two men’s pretty much every day on the stadium court. [We] need to maybe find a way of allowing for an equal split of the men’s and women’s matches across the tournament rather than just looking at one day. If there’s better matches on the women’s side than the men’s side, you can flip it. If there’s better matches on the men’s side, then that has to go first, as well.”
Serene Federer eases past Dimitrov into last eight
In a sea of uncertainty, Roger Federer is still the eternal lifeboat. Even as other contenders fought to avoid drowning on day seven, he advanced to the quarter-finals for the 15th time with another excellent win, Grigor Dimitrov bowing down before him for the sixth time in a row. Whether or not he wins an eighth title on Sunday, he has already left the tournament with another star-dusted collection of memories.
“When you’re going on adrenalin you can go a lot further,” he observed courtside, in reference to the grinding struggles of Rafael Nadal and the lesser concerns of Andy Murray, who arrived at the championships after tough campaigns on the red dirt of Europe while the Swiss recuperated at home.
“It was going to be a tough one [at Wimbledon] whether I played the French Open or not, or the clay season for that matter. I’m not trying to heal something like last year with the knee. I’ll be ready for Wednesday.”
It is Dimitrov’s misfortune, meanwhile, to so resemble Federer in style but not substance. He looked pretty once again, all flair and invention, the single-handed backhand, which is every bit the aesthetic equal of his 35-year-old opponent, delivering him five of his 29 winners over an hour and 38 minutes on Centre Court – but there was little he could do about the numbers that mattered more.
Federer won 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, making what should have been a testing fourth-round match look as routine as a stretching session at a local gym. His closure of the action was as pleasing to the eye as all the 94 of his points that had gone before.
On his second opportunity to win the match, he pushed Dimitrov wide then, seeing the younger man move to the centre of the baseline anticipating a regulation restart of the rally, he speared another forehand into the deuce corner, inducing one final false reply.
Federer’s progress has been typically serene, as has most of his remarkable renaissance since returning to the Tour in January, and Dimitrov posed no more searching questions than did those who had gone before him in the first week: Alexandr Dolgopolov (retired in the second set), Dusan Lajovic winning just 11 games in the second round, and Mischa Zverev, the occasional giantkiller, pushing him hard at the start but fading in three sets.
Federer was as puzzled as everyone that Dimitrov did not serve and volley at all – a defensive pattern he has followed throughout the tournament.
“I am a bit surprised he wouldn’t even attempt it once, maybe not even at 40-love, just one time, just to see how it feels,” he said. “Then you plant the seed maybe to let your opponent know you might do it. I think it’s quite extreme not to serve and volley ever, especially as we are on the grass. The grass is playing on the faster side. I chose to do it myself today, not as much as I could, but a lot. I was rewarded for it.”
His fans were overjoyed, naturally, to see him on the main stage at Wimbledon, the place he belongs almost by right – and, in all the discussions about court allocations, there was no voice to suggest he might be moved elsewhere.
As Federer the diplomat saw it: “Playing on Monday here on Centre Court I feel honoured. It is very special. They could easily have put Novak [Djokovic] or Rafa [Nadal] or another women’s match on here.” But, of course, they didn’t. As the All England Club chief executive Richard Lewis said earlier in the day: “It’s a tough choice but we had to acknowledge box office: one of the greats and the men’s Big Four. It’s what crowds and TV want.”
The contest to challenge the big four will be met by a gamut of big servers in the quarter-finals of this year’s Wimbledon, after a series of drawn out ties saw the big guys come out on top.
Sam Querrey, up against a fellow rocket launcher in the South African Kevin Anderson, the American won 5-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in three hours and seven minutes and now faces Andy Murray.
A match similar in both style and length ended with Milos Raonic beating the 20-year-old German Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. Zverev had not dropped a set in the first three rounds of the tournament but was eventually worn down by the Canadian who hit 17 aces in the match.
Raonic, who was beaten by Murray in last year’s final said he feels more confident in this year’s tournament. “I’m in a different situation playing, I would say, better than last year”, he said. “I also have this nice confidence that I was building up, and it feels really good.”
Joining his fellow giants in a five-set triumph was the veteran Tomas Berdych who beat No8 seed Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in a relatively brisk two hours and fifty three minutes.
Marin Cilic had the easiest ride, cruising past Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 41 minutes. Kevin Mitchell and Paul Macinnes
