Andy will be wary but the nation can dare to dream

THE danger of taking anything for granted hardly needs to be spelled out. Yet only a fool would pretend that Andy Murray’s chances of claiming a second Wimbledon title haven’t improved dramatically over the last 48 hours. His potential path to the final already made just that little bit less daunting by the departure of fourth seed Stan Wawrinka, Scotland’s greatest sportsman of all time was elevated to highest-ranked player left in the draw by Novak Djokovic’s shock loss to Sam Querrey on Saturday. So it’s shooty-in from here until the final, right? Not quite. Murray (right) himself is quick to stress the potential pitfalls in his side of the draw, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga merely the most obvious threat. Oh, and there’s always the possibility of the No 3 seed — a fellow by the name of Roger Federer — lying in wait on his Centre Court this Sunday. Accepted logic holds that Djokovic is far and away the best player on the planet — with Murray sitting just on his shoulder — and that the Brit himself is well clear of a fading Federer, Wawrinka and other challengers. But what happened to Novak on Saturday should remind everyone that, in a Grand Slam, especially one as susceptible to rain delays as Wimbledon, there are no guarantees. However easy the Serb has made it look on occasions, it remains very difficult to win one of these tournaments. Even for the very best. Murray can almost certainly be trusted not to get carried away with the ‘ease’ of the challenges now facing him. Especially with Ivan Lendl back in his corner. Can you imagine Ivan the Implacable getting giddy over anything? The rest of us, however, can quietly celebrate the kind of lucky break that has fallen so rarely in favour of our Andy, whose usual route to the final involves a five-setter with Rafa Nadal and a tough encounter with Roger. Before facing Novak, who has usually had three days off, guzzling gluten-free energy food and getting his fingernails massaged. Sunday could be one heck of an occasion, with Murray winning his third Slam title as a warm-up to Wales lifting the European Championship trophy in Paris. Go on, let’s get carried away by it all. For what is sport, except an invitation to dream big?