AFTER the stress of his first two rounds here at the French Open, Andy Murray plans to get back to what he does best of all today, dismantling the game of the biggest servers in tennis.

Taken the distance first by Czech Radek Stepanek and then in round two by the almost unknown Frenchman, Mathias Bourgue, Murray will be back on familiar territory against the 6ft 11in Ivo Karlovic.

The Croat has served more aces than anyone else in the Open era – 10,698, averaging almost 20 aces per match over his entire career – and at 37, has bounced back well in the past couple of months after knee trouble.

But Murray has won all six of their previous meetings, dropping just four sets in the process, including one at Wimbledon when they met in the fourth round last year.

They have never met on clay, so today’s meeting on the red stuff at Roland Garros should allow him a little more time to get a racquet on the Karlovic serve.

“The return has always been the best part of my game,” Murray said, looking forward to a far less physical match than either of his opening two rounds.

“So I always get my chances to break serve, when I play (John) Isner (whom he could face in round four) or play Ivo, I've always found ways to give myself opportunities and find a way of holding my own serve.

“I'm also able to move them around a bit at the back of the court, use a bit of variety there that can throw them off a bit. A lot of the matches have been very close, and they certainly haven't been easy matches for me. It's always tricky against Ivo.”

Murray enjoyed a bit of family time yesterday with his wife Kim and young daughter Sophia, a nice distraction after the drama of the opening two rounds.

Having talked up his chances – and had others talk them up for him – of winning the title for the first time, perhaps it was nerves that affected him as he was pushed hard by Stepanek in round one.

It’s hard to fathom just how Murray lost his way so badly against Bourgue to drop sets two and three after looking in control but he will take solace from the way he came back to continue his title quest.

“The most important thing now is to rest and recover, basically,” he said. “This is why I travel with a physio, to help as much as he can in these situations. Also try and get some good food in me, good fuel, and try and recover as best I can the next 48 hours.”

Karlovic is the oldest man to reach the third round of a Grand Slam event since a then 39-year-old Jimmy Connors made it to the semi-finals at the US Open in 1991.

“It's the only time when being old is okay," said Karlovic, when told of his achievement. "So, yeah, I like."

His 41 aces helped him past young Australian Jordan Thompson in round two, 12-10 in the fifth set, and his game has come a long way since his early days when anything on his backhand would rarely come back.

Murray will be aware that the only time he has failed to make it to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam in the past five slams was against another big server, South African Kevin Anderson, at last year’s US Open.

The Argentine, Gaston Gaudio, is the only man in the Open era to have won the French Open after winning his first two rounds in five sets, but providing he has recovered physically it would be a surprise if Murray does not see off Karlovic with relative ease.

Murray admitted that all the talk about his split from coach Amelie Mauresmo had been a distraction, but said he was now ready to focus only on the task at hand.

“Now, I can just move on, concentrate on the tennis. It's just time to try to keep the focus on the tennis, and win the next match.”

For the first time since 1999, Britain has two men in the third round after Aljaz Bedene beat Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, ranked 23 places above him at No 43, 7-6 6-3 4-6 5-7 6-2.

It was a welcome victory for Bedene, who is still considering whether to appeal against a ruling preventing him from playing for his adopted country in the Davis Cup.

Bedene now plays world No.1 Novak Djokovic, having been well beaten by the Serb on their only other meeting in Melbourne last year.

“I have to be focused, have to play my game, and take my chances. I know if I play well anything can happen,” Bedene said.

Djokovic was far from his best yesterday but still beat Belgium’s Steve Darcis 7-5 6-3 6-4, while Rafael Nadal, the nine-time champion, crushed Facundo Bagnis of Argentina 6-3 6-0 6-3.

Defending champion Serena Williams and sister Venus Williams, meanwhile, both reached round three with ease and were joined by fourth seed Garbine Muguruza and last year’s semi-finalist, Timea Bacsinsky of Switzerland.