Andy Murray is getting steadily more awesome on the lawns of Wimbledon – which, considering he has been playing the best tennis of his career for most of the summer, is encouraging for the player, for the tournament and the state of the British game.
He said after beating Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round that it was not his job to find talent, but was the responsibility of the Lawn Tennis Association, with whom he has had a relationship of varying warmth over the years.
He agreed it was a boost for the game to have James Ward accompanying him through to the third round here – the first time there have been two British players this deep in the tournament since Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski in 2002 – and he was happy to lend support to his compatriots in any way he could.
It is true, of course, that the LTA is the steward of British tennis but when young enthusiasts see Murray play the way he did in destroying the Dutchman Robin Haase on No1 Court on Thursday, it surely must inspire some of them to believe that one day they might emulate the Scot, or at least give it a damn good go.
What, for instance, ever happened to that young Essex schoolboy, Henry Caplan, who escaped the care of his father and battled his way through the crowd on Centre Court to embrace his hero the day he won Olympic gold three years ago? Or a thousand others who have dreamed, perhaps, they could do what Murray did?
Murray bossed Haase from start to finish to win 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 in just under an hour and a half, and is in excellent shape to do the same to Andreas Seppi in the third round on Saturday. The Italian saved him from the precocious challenge of young Borna Coric (who beat Murray in Dubai earlier in the year), winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1, 6-1. For all his talent, the Croatian whizzkid clearly still has strength and stamina issues – as did Murray at his age.
What was most impressive about the now-mature Murray’s tennis against Haase was the calmness and poise with which he injected so much power into his ground strokes. The great ball strikers in any sport involving a moving ball have the gift of making it look simple, when it plainly is not – especially on grass, be it tennis or cricket. That extra element makes for a wonderful amount of uncertainty.
When Murray gets “in the zone”, as he did for extended periods here, there is little his opponent can do about it, because the world No3 allies his attack to a defensive game that destroys the spirit. Time and again Haase, himself a gifted hitter, was frustrated to the point of impotence by Murray’s ability to grind him into the turf.
The domination was near total. Murray took just 20 minutes to blow Haase away in the first set, broke him six times in all, won 85 of the 136 points contested, hit 25 clean winners, with only 11 unforced errors – as well as five well-timed aces in a service game that clicked pleasingly, with perhaps a little room for improvement.
Murray is always tinkering with his game and he will work on those finer points he considers need tweaking before taking on Seppi, whom he has beaten in the last six of their seven meetings.
Against Haase he knew what to expect in every department. The Dutchman took a set off him at the US Open last year when cramp coursed through the Scot’s legs in a worrying third set. But, as he has done in four matches against him now, Murray found a way through what, ultimately, was not a forest of that many dark secrets.
Indeed, there was a decided lack of drama – even Dutch resistance. It was disappointing to see Haase appear so resigned to his fate after a decent start, only briefly coming to life again at the beginning of the third when the fight already appeared lost.
As for Seppi, his lone win against Murray was on the grass of Nottingham nine years ago. The last time they met, on clay in Naples in the Davis Cup last year, Murray won in straight sets. He should do so again here – probably more easily.
