MIDDLE England has never seemed so Scottish, writes Stewart Fisher.
At around 10pm on an utterly dreich night in south-west London, an increasingly bedraggled bunch of souls sat on a hill in the driving rain as Andy Murray booked his place in the fourth round of Wimbledon.
Perhaps they all actually were Scottish. Or perhaps, after Murray Mound had been closed on Wednesday night for so-called ‘health and safety reasons’, they just wanted their money’s worth. But nobody was shouting “Come on Tim”.
Not so very far away, 15,000 or so punters had located an altogether more satisfying vantage point beneath the Centre Court roof for the Scot’s third match under the ceiling. Or so they thought. Ivan Ljubicic managed to make most of them sit uncomfortably, not least when a late fightback took the fourth set to a tiebreak and briefly threatened to drag it to a decider. When the Scot dispatched one last forehand the roof finally caved in on the 32-year-old Croat. Or maybe Murray had just raised it.
The former world No.3 and current 33 had never played on Centre Court before and it didn’t take long for him to get a beginners’ guide. Two aces rained in on the man born in Banja Luka, Bosnia, from the Scot’s very first two serves, but Ljubicic is a seasoned campaigner and not one prone to panic. A war child who fled that country as a teenager, he weathered the storm and secured the first service break of the match for a 4-3 lead.
Murray – watched by giants of the English sporting establishment like Bob Willis, Jayne Torvill and Brian Moore – reasserted himself and soon had the set 6-4, but Ljubicic retained a brooding threat, and an emphatic break of Murray in the eighth game of the second set saw him level matters. A straightforward third set for the Scot was followed by a break for 4-2 in the fourth, prompting some showboating as Murray reprised the circus act “between the leg” passing shot we saw at Queen’s Club.
The echoes of events 10 years previously when wild-card Goran Ivanisevic had edged past Tim Henman en route to an unlikely title win at a rain-affected Wimbledon – back when “Come on Tim” was an altogether more legitimate shout – briefly returned. Ljubicic was determined to eke out every last drop of drama and Murray dropped his serve for the third time when serving for the match. But he wouldn’t make any such mistake in the tiebreak.
It was dramatic stuff all right and waiting for the Scot in the next round is likely to be some further drama in the form of Richard Gasquet. The mercurial Frenchman, who came through at a canter, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 against Italy’s Simone Bolelli, has been responsible for two of the most exhilarating victories in Murray’s career, serving for a straight-sets win at SW19 in 2008 before going down in five, then watching the Scot pull himself off the canvas in similar fashion at Roland Garros in 2010.
Gasquet said last night that his nemesis had improved immensely since 2008, but admitted it was now or never for the Scot if he wants to maximise his chances of winning here. “He’s playing faster than before,” the Frenchman said. “He’s aggressive. He’s powerful. He has a big serve and a big forehand. He’s running everywhere. He’s also a very clever player who knows how to win the points. But he’s 24 years old, so for him it’s now. He has to win this year, next year. That’s the best time for him to play his best game in Wimbledon.
“That match in 2008 was for me a good memory really, even if I lost,” he added. “I played very well. I remember the crowd were very impressive. We are told all the time, that the English, at Wimbledon, it’s quiet.
“But it was incredible. A lot people were cheering for him.”
So they were again last night. Even if, for some of them, it meant getting a bit wet.
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