MURRAY IN A HURRY
Rosettes galore for Vaulters Andy dispatches Brown in double-quick time
Andy Murray is still on course to retain his Wimbledon title after a comfortable second round win on Wednesday over German Dustin Brown.
His hit 31 winners and only five unforced errors in his 96 minutes on court, breaking his dreadlocked opponent five times on the way to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win.
Worries over the hip injury which caused him to miss two exhibition matches last week now seem unfounded as he moved into the third round having only lost 14 games in his first two rounds. Today Murray has a tricky clash against 28th seed Fabio Fognini, who is aiming to make the second week of the All England Club for the first time in his ninth appearance.
The Italian has faced Murray six times in ATP events and is even at 3-3 with Fognini winning their recent encounter in May on the clay courts of Rome. They have never played on grass.
“He’s always dangerous,” said Murray on Fognini. “He’s a shot maker and very solid off his forehand and backhand side, but can also hit winners from both
sides.
“I expect it to be very tough. When Fabio is switched on, he’s really tough to beat.”
With the famous tournament nearing the end of the first week, Murray has seen his lead at the top of the rankings over Rafael Nadal slashed to 2105 - and with the defending champion having 2000 points dropping off, his effective lead over the Spaniard is a mere 105 points.
However, if he reaches the final he will retain his No 1 spot and to do that, he is seeded to meet Nadal in
the SEE PAGE 47 semi-final next Friday. A win for Nadal in that match would see him leapfrog Murray to No 1 for the first time in three years.
●Yesterday Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares started out in the doubles against Czech pairing Roman Jebavy and Jiri Vesely.
Jamie will also be chasing mixed doubles alongside a partner who a bit about winning Grand Slam titles.
He will line up with Swiss star Martina Hingis, a winner of five Grand Slam singles titles including Wimbledon in 1997 12 Grand Slam doubles events and a further five Grand Slam mixed doubles competitions. The duo are seeded No 1 with Jamie hoping to land his second Wimbledon mixed doubles title having won in 2007 with Serbia’s
Jelena Jankovic.