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Ljubicic raises Wimbledon alarm over Murray's serve

Andy Murray's first serve has fired well at Wimbledon, but his second serve leaves plenty to be desired according to Ivan Ljubicic © Getty Images

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ESPN.co.uk will be providing live scores and analysis from Wimbledon throughout the tournament.

Ivan Ljubicic has issued a damning verdict of Andy Murray's second serve ahead of the fourth round at Wimbledon, describing it as "weak".

Ljubicic was beaten in four sets by Murray on Friday, although the Croatian came within a tiebreaker of forcing a fifth set. Murray claimed his performance against the 32-year-old was his best of the week, but Ljubicic was less impressed.

The British No. 1 advances to a Monday encounter with Richard Gasquet, a man who took a two-set lead against him at the same event in 2008. Back then Murray fought back to take the match in five, memorably showing his bicep to the Wimbledon crowd.

Now he faces the artful Frenchman again, a player who brings much elegance and grace to the court. A tendency to self-destruct and commit unforced errors has kept Gasquet from becoming one of the world's top five players, but on his day he has the tools to beat anybody.

Victory will send the winner towards a quarter-final against Feliciano Lopez or Lukas Kubot, but Ljubicic is concerned Murray's serve will prove too weak when he enters the latter stages of the competition.

"His second serve is definitely weak, I stepped on it many times," commented the veteran.

"It's by far the slowest court in the world so there are chances to step in and really hit the returns. This is what Wimbledon has become."

Summing up the size of the task facing Murray if he is to win Wimbledon over the next seven days, Ljubicic predicted it will take a miracle for the Brit to triumph.

"It would be something huge if he managed to win it but we all know he's fourth favourite so something tremendous has to happen for him to get through."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.