Towering Croat calls foul after defiant Murray cuts him down to size

Hugh Macdonald

Chief Sports Writer

Friday 29 June 2012

IT is perhaps a mercy that Judy Murray's duties as Fed Cup captain delayed her arrival on Centre Court yesterday.

Andy Murray celebrates his fourth victory over the 6ft 10in Ivo Karlovic.

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Hugh MacDonald

The early exchanges between Ivo Karlovic and her wee boy would surely have brought her on to the hallowed turf to tell the 6ft 10ins Croat to pick on somebody his own size.

The problem – and it was a substantial one for Murray – is that there is no one the size of Karlovic in world tennis. He poses difficult problems and the world No.4 did extremely well to answer them.

His mother's belated arrival after a tour of duty watching British women players came with Murray and Karlovic at one set all. The 25-year-old Scot, though, won the next two sets to win 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (4). It had been a battle and an exercise in patience, focus and sheer athleticism for Murray. The Karlovic serve can be described in various ways. The first is to measure it in numbers. He regularly served at 135mph. His second serve reached 128mph as he determined to keep Murray under pressure. The serve can also be described by the mayhem it created. Two Karlovic serves bounced and shot into the royal box. A nation celebrating the jubilee was grateful Her Majesty was absent as the Karlovic serve posed the greatest threat to the monarchy since Guy Fawkes. A pocket of Chelsea Pensioners situated in the line of fire could have been forgiven for waving the white flag as another missile cracked into their midst. But Murray seemed born to rule the storm.In his pre-match chat, he had spoken about how he would have to weather the ups and down of the match. He did this and more. This was a challenge for the Scot and he survived it after three hours and eight minutes.His concentration and focus can be gauged by one statistic. He offered Karlovic only one break point. The Croat, ranked 59th in the world, took this in the first game of the match after Murray had surged to 40-0. The Scot never offered another break point throughout the subsequent three hours. This was a testimony to the solidity of the Murray gameplan. He knew he could offer nothing on his serve. He knew he had to press Karlovic relentlessly on the Croat's serve.Murray battled for every point, sometimes flailing a racket hopefully as another Karlovic beast reared from the turf and made a lunge towards the back of the court. The 33-year-old lived and died by the sword. His serve offered him quick points but it also crumbled at crucial moments. Much of this was because Murray would not back down. Karlovic, too, was discomfited by the faults called against him. He later talked of bias and conspiracy claiming there were 11 foot faults against him. It was more likely to be six. Karlovic committed nine double faults in the entire match.The story of the match was, rather, a fury of serves by Karlovic that Murray calmed at important moments. The first set was won after the Croat stalled in the final straight. After breaking Murray in the first game, Karlovic immediately surrendered his serve. The match then went with serve until Karlovic double faulted at 5-6.Neither man could force a break point in the second set. Those traditionalists who hanker for a return to serve and volley may have had their ardour calmed by events on Centre Court. Rallies were rare, although Karlovic's volleying was at times superb and Murray was resiliently defiant in defence. There was also a welcome exchange of deft drop shots, but the set proceeded inexorably to a tiebreak. Murray missed a great chance to take the advantage but was just wide with a forehand. Karlovic prevailed and the match was even.The third set seemed to indicate that Murray had come through the worst. He was clinical and eased to a 6-2 win. But the fourth set reverted to type with both men holding serve. Murray won 37 points, Karlovic claimed 32. It was that close, that tense.The tie-break was inevitable and it was predictably tight. The pair exchanged mini-breaks before Karlovic double-faulted. His greatest weapon had become his weakness.Murray had two serves for two points for the match. He took them and basked in the joy of the crowd. The mysterious gesture of two fingers to the heavens was repeated though later not explained.This was a victory far from the cruise against Nikolay Davydenko on Tuesday where Murray showed the range of his shots. This was a scramble, occasionally desperate, against a formidable force. Murray talked about the need to be explosive against Karlovic and he defused the Croat, maintaining his record of never being beaten by him in four matches.Karlovic was left to rage against a perceived bias by line judges. Murray, in contrast, can reflect on an admirable performance ahead of tomorrow's tie with Marcos Baghdatis. The giant was brought down to size but it took some hefty swings of the Murray racket and an admirable display of nerve under fire.

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Towering Croat calls foul after defiant Murray cuts him down to size

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