‘Hot Dog’ Murray to face Richard Gasquet in fourth round
The 10-O’Clock news was almost upon us before Andy Murray came through his third round match against Ivan Ljubicic last night but no matter, the Scot was victorious in 4-sets 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7/4).
After a fairly comfortable first set, Murray allowed the veteran Croation back into the match in the second set but a 6-1 victory in set 3 looked to spell the end for Ljubicic. However, to his credit, the former world number 3 fought back and the 7-6 (7/4) final set shows it wasn’t plain sailing for Murray. Ljubicic looked to be feeling the physical exertion much more than Murray but the Croats fierce and artfully placed serve kept him in the match. In the end though, Murray’s skilful returns won the day and a fourth round tie against the Frenchman Richard Gasquet comes next.
The British number one said afterwards: "I thought it was an excellent match. I thought both of us played very well. The first game of the second set was a bad game but apart from that I thought it was a very high standard. I think I did a good job of keeping my energy high for most of the match. I played a very good third set. And I did well in the tie-break to stay focused and come through the fourth set. It's always tough when you serve for matches, to finish the match off after that is difficult, so I think I did well."
Commenting on the ‘Hot Dog’ shot that is becoming a talking point, Murray added "It doesn't happen that often when you get yourself in that sort of position. I went for it and made it. I'm sure at some point I'm going to miss one and look silly."
Ljubicic dismissed claims that the shot was disrespectful, saying "It's not like he slapped me or anything! His shot touched the net and then my shot touched the net. It happens. There was no other way for him to hit the ball except through the legs, and he made it. I'm sure the crowd enjoyed it."
Murray is a best priced 3/10 (1.30) to defeat Gasquet but better value may be had in backing both the 3-1 (5/2) and 3-2 (11/2) margins of victory for the Scot at combined odds of 5/4.