“That was important, but an incredibly hard match, mentally tiring, because you need to be focused on every single point and take your chances when they come”. None of it could put off Gasquet, however, who triumphed 7-5, 6-1, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (6) to take full revenge for losing to Kyrgios a year ago when the Frenchman managed to blow a record-equalling nine match points. The big man is digging deep to hit a fabulous backhand returning Murray’s groundstroke. Czech Safarova, 28, finished runner-up at the French Open this year but was outplayed by Vandeweghe, who won 7-6, 7-6 to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time.
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“Although it was 6-3 6-4 in the final against Anderson at Queen’s, probably 6-2 6-2 would have been a better reflection on how dominant that performance was”. Break.
But Murray fended it off with a stunning forehand pass of his own to keep the Croat at bay. He hit 22 winners, but committed 15 unforced errors.
Federer pulled out the party tricks in the opening week and laid down an early marker for the accolade of shot of the tournament with an outrageous lob from between his legs over Sam Querrey in his second round match.
There will be three American women in the quarterfinals, as Madison Keys also advanced and the Williams sisters were playing each other on Centre Court.
Then there are the 135mph serves.
– – Not everyone enjoys watching Karlovic serve…
Murray, champion in 2013, has suffered a couple of wobbles in matches against Mikhail Kukushkin and Andreas Seppi, but has looked comfortable enough not be unduly anxious by 23rd seed Karlovic.
Brown pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament so far when he beat Nadal on Centre Court in the second round on Thursday. He gets an appreciative giggle from the crowd though.
“It’s mainly just the fact that he can hit so many of the angles on the court”, he said. But that service is just too tough to handle. I could be better.
It means the hopes of a nation will be on the shoulders of the Brit once again but the 28-year-old has proven he can handle the pressure after clinching the Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles in his career to date.
– – Karlovic 6-7 0-1 Murray: Aha, could this be Andy Murray stepping up a gear? It was an uphill task for Karlovic, looking for his first win over Murray in six meetings.
Groth fired Wimbledon’s second-fastest serve at 147mph, with Taylor Dent’s top SW19 mark of 148 only just surviving.
And if proof were needed for the reason behind the No23 seed’s rise in the rankings, his results said it all: Alexandr Dolgopolov fell 13-11 in the fifth set of Round 2, and No13 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets in Round 3. It would inevitably go to a tie-break. Can he break Karlovic in this next game?
“Once they get into a rally, if Andy neutralises a big serve he’s going to win seven-and-a-half out of 10 points”. Karlovic won’t concede his serve. Karlovic argued it only looks that way “because it’s really slow[ed] down”.
The man is at the peak of his powers.
“Karlovic is one of the guys who will serve aces on any court with any ball, and especially grass, so that makes him a very dangerous opponent at Wimbledon“, ex- British number one Henman told Press Association Sport.
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After Serena Williams’ quickfire victory over sister Venus, the first set of the day’s second match went to a tie-break as both players held their serve to great effect.
