The Fourth Day: the daily preview
Having dismissed with impressive ease the first round challenge of Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Murray moves into a part of the Gentlemen's Singles at the 2012 Championships today where the tall timbers stand and the dangers lurk. Murray, the fourth seed and perennial Hope of the Home Nation, must next negotiate one of the biggest barriers, in terms of feet and inches, in the sport when he tackles Ivo Karlovic, the Croatian who stands 6ft 10in in his socks.
The danger, as might be expected, lies in the ability of Karlovic to deliver his serves from such a height that they might be obscured by low cloud, Britain's summer weather being what it is at the moment. In 2003, Karlovic famously sent the defending champion, Lleyton Hewitt, packing on the opening day of The Championships that year, and has inflicted an impressive number of painful defeats on other notable names in his time.
Even at the age of 33, Karlovic is still capable of figuring high on the list of those who deliver aces as a matter of routine, all of which Murray and his team are fully aware of. Murray has played the Croatian three times previously and won the lot, but tie-breaks have been heavily involved. There were two in their first match and two more in the second, evenly shared. They have not clashed for four years, in which time Murray's skill in the tie-break has flourished, so the prospects look promising for further progress in a section of the draw teeming with other big boomers. In which case the Karlovic experience on Centre Court this afternoon could stand Andy in good stead for battles to come.
For the second seed, Rafael Nadal, who follows Murray onto Centre, there is also a tall order, but strictly (he and his camp trust) in physical terms. Rafa's second round opponent is a 6ft 5in Czech, Lukas Rosol, whom he has never previously faced. At 36, Rosol is one of the more mature people on the circuit and is clearly a slow improver, having not cracked the top 100 in the rankings until last year. This is his first time at Wimbledon and one that will surely have to be put down as a learning experience for someone whose prospects appear bleak against one of the best movers and hardest hitters in the sport.
The days when Americans dominated the Gentlemen's Singles are long gone, but two from the United States, Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish, will be carrying the Stars and Stripes into action today with some hope of further progress. Fish, seeded tenth, will be content with his task against the British wild card James Ward, while Roddick will be comforted by the fact that he has beaten his German opponent, Bjorn Phau, with some ease on all three of the previous occasions they have faced each other.
Roddick was eloquent last night talking about the difficulties he faced in following America's previous generation of players, virtually on his own. "I've been dealing with that for the majority of my career," he said. But I'm not one to try to play in the shadows of someone. My job is to get over the next obstacle." And the fact that he has figured in three finals on these grounds will be enough to inspire him and strike uncertainty into Phau.
A rather more successful American at these Championships, Serena Williams, is accorded the opening slot on Centre Court, where she will take on the Hungarian, Melinda Czink, someone who has failed to gather a set from the sixth-seeded Serena in their two previous matches.
Two British women have earned places on the show courts today. For Elena Baltacha the task could not be more demanding, an outing on No.1 Court against the defending champion Petra Kvitova, while British No.1 Anne Keothavong will probably view her prospects more optimistically against the clay court specialist from Italy, Sara Errani, who was runner-up to Maria Sharapova at the French Open earlier this month.
Of the aforementioned big boomers who may await Murray in future rounds, Canada's Milos Raonic will underline his promising credentials if he can put away American Sam Querrey, while Croatia's Marin Cilic, a winner at Queen's last week, should prove too powerful for Poland's Lukasz Kubot. And Court 12 will stage a fascinating battle between a pair of extroverts, Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, for the right to meet Murray, should he survive the Karlovic test.
