Tennis: Sean Connery calls but cool Murray isn't shaken or stirred

Published on Monday 29 June 2009 09:59

ANDY MURRAY has got a high-profile cheering squad as he prepares to make history at Wimbledon.

Last week he revealed he'd received a good luck telegram from the Queen, yesterday he got a phone call from James Bond.

Sir Sean Connery rang to wish his fellow Scot good luck ahead of his fourth-round clash with Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka on Centre Court this evening.

So far the British No.1 has left his rivals both shaken and stirred, ruthlessly brushing aside Viktor Troicki in a straight sets demolition in which he dropped just nine games.

But, as he plots a path to Sunday's final – and a date with history that some British tennis cynics thought would never come – the challenge steps up.

However, much like 007, Murray insists the pressure isn't fazing him.

"I think I'm able to raise my game to the quality of the opponent," he said.

"I'll try to do that again against Stanislas.

"Obviously it is a big story and it's good that people are interested but the media expectation hasn't troubled me this week. I'd be very surprised if it did next week.

"Obviously, I'd love to get to the final, but I'm concentrating on Stan and trying to get through the next match.

"He's a very solid all-court player. He's got a solid serve, moves well and is good off the baseline. He does everything good. He doesn't have one shot which is a huge weakness." Wawrinka should give Murray his toughest match yet.

He is ranked 18th in the world but has been briefly as high as World No.9.

However, his Grand Slam record is far from impressive. He reached the fourth round at the All England Club last year but has never progressed to a quarter-final in 17 attempts.

Last year he partnered Roger Federer to Olympic doubles gold in Beijing and the former World No.1 certainly wouldn't moan if his team-mate dumped out his most likely rival for a record sixth title.

And their head-to-head record is hardly overwhelming in the favour of the Scot – who holds just a narrow advantage, having won four of their seven encounters.

However, Murray has transformed himself in the last 12 months and he has won their two most recent meetings, including a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 humbling en route to last year's US Open final last August.

"That was not a good game but I've improved a lot since then," said Wawrinka.

"I did a lot of work over the winter, improving all elements of my tennis and my fitness.

"I'm very happy with how I'm playing, my serve is much better and so is my play at the net.

"But Andy is playing well, especially in this tournament."

Wawrinka – who beat absent defending champion Rafeal Nadal in a pre-Wimbledon warm-up – is also no stranger to Murray's game.

The pair are regular practice partners and spent time hitting together in the build-up to Wimbledon.

"Andy is a good friend on the Tour and we practice together a lot, so I know his game," he added.

"The problem is that he has a lot of strengths and not many weaknesses and that makes designing a game plan for him difficult. I'm going to have to be aggressive and I'm going to need to serve really well.

"He's one of the best returners around but, if my serve is there, then I'll have a chance."

However, Murray should have too much for the Swiss right-hander, although Wawrinka did beat Federer this year on the way to the Monte Carlo Masters semi-final, where he was beaten by Novak Djokovic.

Second Monday at the All England Club is always value for money with all fourth-round encounters held in both the men's and women's draw.

The focus remains on Murray and Federer – the second seed plays Sweden's Robin Soderling in a reprise of the French Open final – but elsewhere others are quietly staking their claim.

Former champion Lleyton Hewitt and two-time finalist Andy Roddick are both potentially semi-final rivals for Murray.

They take on Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek today and their solid form makes them favourites to advance again.

Meanwhile, Jamie Murray is still flying the British flag in the doubles after an otherwise disappointing weekend for home players. Murray – who won the mixed title with Jelena Jankovic in 2007 and was a semi-finalist last year – partnered American Liezel Huber to a second-round win over tenth seeds Nenad Zimonjic and Zi Yan.

But four doubles pairs went out of their competitions – including Scots Colin Fleming and Elena Baltacha.

Fleming and Sarah Borwell, James Auckland and Baltacha and Ken Skupski and Katie O'Brien all lost in the mixed doubles second round.

There was also a defeat for Chris Eaton and Alexander Slabinsky in the men's doubles.