• Wimbledon, Day Four

Murray passes Karlovic test to reach third round

Andy Murray's serving was immaculate against Ivo Karlovic © PA Photos

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Andy Murray stood firm against the giant challenge of Ivo Karlovic to book his place in the third round at Wimbledon.

The world No. 4 was more than a match for the big-serving Croat as he claimed a 7-5 6-7(5) 6-2 7-6(4) victory on Centre Court.

Murray, who was in blistering form as he dispatched Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets on Tuesday, immediately found himself on the back foot as Karlovic punished the Scot for a tentative start - despite being 40-0 up on serve Murray was broken in his opening game.

Murray responded immediately, breaking straight back, and the pair traded blows from the baseline and at the net. As the first set looked destined for a tiebreak, Karlovic was forced to fend off two set points with two booming serves.

But as he served to force the opening set to a tiebreak, two missed first serves proved costly for Karlovic. Murray stepped in, taking the second serve early to hit his first return winner to bring up his third set point. Then, as Karlovic thought he had served a second-serve ace, Murray turned to HawkEye, which confirmed his suspicions that the serve had been wide - a double fault to gift Murray the opening set.

As was to be expected, breaks were few and far between and the second set went to a tiebreak, Karlovic clawing himself back into the contest in part thanks to a pair of costly passing shots from Murray which fizzed long.

With Karlovic in the ascendancy, Murray acted swiftly, grabbing an early break in the first game of the third set with a superb backhand lob volley. And the Scot showed incredible athleticism to reach a forehand for the double break - Karlovic could only net his reply.

While Murray's ability to get his racket on Karlovic's blistering serves stood him in good stead, his serving was equally impressive - 11 aces and matching the Croat with a 61 per cent first-serve success rate. But it was just eight unforced errors that proved crucial as Murray kept his cool to see out the match on a fourth-set tiebreak.

The British No. 1 will now face former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, who was gifted a place in the third round by Grigor Dimitrov. Baghdatis, who is coached by Murray's former trainer Miles Maclagan, was 7-5 4-1 up when the Bulgarian retired.

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