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Dolgopolov confident of beating Murray

Alexandr Dolgopolov believes he has what it takes to beat Andy Murray © Getty Images

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Alexandr Dolgopolov fancies his chances of causing another upset at the Australian Open and knocking out fifth seed Andy Murray.

The young Ukrainian has been the revelation of the tournament, beating No. 4 seed Robin Soderling in five sets in the previous round to book a last eight match against the Scot.

Having faced Murray only once - back in 2006, in a Davis Cup tie on clay which he lost in straight sets - the 22-year-old is nonetheless confident he can cause another shock in Melbourne and beat his more illustrious opponent.

"I remember I was expecting more," Dolgopolov said of their previous meeting. "He didn't play particularly fast. I thought he would have lots of pace and I didn't play those players in real life, I just watched them on television. But television makes them look much faster.

"When I came out, I realised I was playing much faster, hitting the shots but I made too many unforced errors. I wasn't consistent enough to even win a set."

The world No. 46 has no doubt his opponent has improved since that last meeting, but believes if he plays to his best and avoids errors he has a chance of victory.

"For sure it will be a tough match because he stays in the rallies," he added. "He sees the ball really well and it's tough to hit winners with him. It's going to be a tough, physical match and I will need to play a really solid match to win."

For his part Murray is wary of his opponent - the first Ukrainian to reach this stage of the Australian Open since Andrei Medvedev, who was once coached by Dolgopolov's father - and knows he cannot afford to relax despite the relative difference in their rankings.

"I know a little bit about him," Murray said. "I played him once before. He's got a very unorthodox game, very different to most of the guys on the tour. He's starting to put everything together. He's playing well, taking chances.

"He has a game that can make you play strange shots or not play that well. So you need to play as solid as you can against him because if you start playing inconsistently, a bit up and down, that's when he plays his best.

"If you can keep making a lot of balls, chase everything down, not give him many free points, I think he can start to miss."

Murray has made seamless progress to the last eight, and is yet to concede more than three games in a set after breezy wins over Karol Beck, Illya Marchenko, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Jurgen Melzer.

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