LONDON, (Reuters) – The tough part starts now for Andy Murray, the 22-year-old Scot who is four victories away from giving Britain its first men’s singles champion at Wimbledon since the days when they played in long trousers.
Murray, the third seed, was given an early scare against American Robert Kendrick in the first round but his subsequent performances against Latvian Ernests Gulbis and Viktor Troicki have been all but faultless.
Stanislas Wawrinka, the man who spends his life in Roger Federer’s shadow as the second best player in Switzerland, is next up for Murray today in the last 16 as the business end of the tournament begins.
Should he win that he would face Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero or Frenchman Gilles Simon with a possible clash against twice runner-up Andy Roddick or 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-final.
Murray has dealt calmly with soaring expectation levels as he attempts to become the first Briton since Fred Perry in 1936 to walk off with the men’s prize.
“I’d obviously love to get to the final,” he told reporters. “But there is still a lot of tennis to be played. I’ll be concentrating on Stan and trying to get through the next match.”
Olympic doubles champion Wawrinka, the 19th seed, is a regular hitting partner of Murray’s and they get on well although that did not stop the Scot handing out a thrashing to his pal at last year’s U.S. Open when he conceded just seven games.