• Wimbledon, Day Five

Murray grinds his way past Ljubicic

Andy Murray was made to work hard by Ivan Ljubicic © Getty Images

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What They Said

Andy Murray ensured there would be British interest in the second week at Wimbledon, beating Croatian Ivan Ljubicic to reach the fourth round for the fifth consecutive year on Friday.

With defeats to Laura Robson and Elena Baltacha leaving Murray to fly the flag solo, the Scot did not disappoint, notching up a 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-6(4) victory.

The rain arrived on Friday evening, bringing defending champion Rafael Nadal's match to a premature end on Court One, but the Scot was able to ensure he will be returning for the second week under the roof on Centre Court.

Murray started brightly, and nearly got his nose in front with three break points, only for Ljubicic to hang on and grab a break of his own. A sloppy forehand hit the net to give Ljubicic the advantage, but two double faults gifted Murray a way back into the first set, and he stormed back, breaking the Croat twice to assume a 1-0 advantage.

But Ljubicic, a former world No. 3, knows what it takes to beat Murray and, having won three of their previous six encounters, he fired his opponent a timely reminder, breaking Murray's opening service game. Ljubicic's serve was impenetrable, and Murray was unable to find a way back into the second set as Ljubicic drew level.

Murray stepped up his game in the third set and capitalised on a couple of Ljubicic errors to grab an early break, before blazing to a 5-0 lead. Ljubicic held serve to avoid the bagel, but the world No. 4 tightened his grip on the match.

The Scot began to produce a masterclass in shotmaking, mixing up a glorious backhand pass with a cheeky dropshot before a fizzing forehand sealed the break as Murray put one foot in the fourth round.

But just as the crowd on Centre Court began to gather their belongings to head home for the evening, Murray suffered an incomprehensible wobble. With Murray serving for the match, Ljubicic produced two impressive returns to break back and hang in, forcing Murray to serve out to set up a tiebreak.

With both players on edge, Ljubicic crumpled first, and the Scot crept ahead when the Croat's return sailed long. Another error handed Murray three match points, and the fourth seed sealed the victory at the second time of asking to set up a fourth-round clash with Richard Gasquet.

Gasquet has looked superb in his first three matches, beating Stanislas Wawrinka's conqueror Simone Bolelli 6-3 6-2 6-4 in his latest outing.

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