Andy Murray Must Retain Focus to Progress Past Dangerous Tipsarevic

Andy Murray, having survived a sharp fluctuation in form during his second-round French Open victory over Potito Starace of Italy, faces a potentially much more dangerous opponent tomorrow in Janko Tipsarevic. The 24-year-old Serb, currently ranked outside the top 50, has yet to make a major mark in the slams, yet he has a habit of considerably raising his game against top 10 players in the earlier rounds.

Last year he claimed the scalp of Andy Roddick in the second round of Wimbledon and earlier that year at the Australian Open he took Roger Federer to five sets in the third round, losing 10-8 in the fifth, a match lasting close to four and a half hours. "He is a tricky guy to play against. He serves big, he moves well, and he is a good shot maker. It will be a tough match," said Murray, who has won two of his previous four matches against Tipsarevic, though they have never met in a major or on clay.

The Serb, who has lived in the shadow of compatriot Novak Djokovic, the world No4, plays in prescription sunglasses, and has become famous for a tattoo on his arm bearing a quote from Dostoyevsky, immediately singling him out as the intellectual of the locker room. "No tattoo question, please," he insisted. "I'm not reading that much these days. I'm addicted to a video game actually called World of Warcraft. I used to read a lot but I don't think of myself as any smarter than the others because of that."

That said, Tipsarevic clearly loves the mental challenge of pitting his wits against the world's best players, while admitting that his mind tends to drift against lesser opponents, hence his lack of consistency. "I really don't think I have a huge weakness but sometimes it happens that I lose focus. I'm somewhere in the clouds, and I suddenly wake up and start playing normal again." Murray will hope the mists consume the Serb tomorrow.

Tipsarevic acknowledged that he faces a difficult task preventing Murray, the world No3, from reaching the last 16 at Roland Garros for the first time. "Every player knows that against Andy you have to be aggressive because he doesn't miss too many balls from the back. He's probably the best defender on tour, but still not 100 per cent comfortable on clay. My idea would be to get him to move him as much as possible. He still does not slide well."

Murray made such a good start in his first match against Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela, whom he beat in three sets, and then against Starace, that his sudden dip in form was the more accentuated. He won only two games out of 13 before turning the third set round against the Italian after being 5-1 down. He will need not to be so profligate against Tipsarevic, who is relishing the challenge.

"When I play against a top 10 player, something tells me that if I go back and stop doing what I know best, which is attack, he's going to eat me alive. On the other hand when I play against a medium-ranked player, like myself, I start thinking that an average performance will be enough. Against top guys, I'm mainly brave. I have enough years on the Tour not to be afraid of any of them. Let's see how it goes. I'm really looking forward to the match."