Andy Murray Makes Hay With Grass-friendly Spaniard at Queen's
A comfortable straight-sets victory over Spain's Guillermo García-López saw Andy Murray through to the quarter-finals at Queen's
With Wimbledon grass-court preparation compressed into a couple of weeks, the Queen's tournament has always been a litmus test of prospects at the All England Club, with only seven champions here since 1979 having failed to go on to win the Wimbledon title. Andy Murray is understandably reluctant to talk up his chances of winning what is now called the Aegon Championships title on Sunday, though given the opposition it would be a surprise if he did not make the final at least.
The field is more than a little thin – Rafael Nadal has pulled out and last year's runner-up, Novak Djokovic, was not invited back – and it was a pity that two former four-times champions, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick, had to meet as early as the third round yesterday, with Roddick winning 7–6 (7–2), 7–6 (7–4) to meet Croatia's walking telegraph pole, Ivo Karlovic, in the quarter-finals. Their match was briefly delayed by a bomb scare, though both players were perfectly phlegmatic as the routine procedures were undertaken. There was no evacuation.
Murray reached the last eight for the second successive year with a 6–4, 6–4 victory over Spain's Guillermo García-López. Last year, having injured his thumb, Murray defaulted against Roddick, and tomorrow faces another American, Mardy Fish, whom he has beaten twice in three previous meetings, though they have not played for three years. "We get on well and he's a very good grass- court player. He has a big serve, likes to come to the net. I'll have to pass and return well," said the Scot.
Hewitt, the Wimbledon champion in 2002, believes Murray is the favourite for the title here. "And at this stage he has to be third favourite behind Federer and Nadal for Wimbledon. As for Roger and Rafa not playing this week, it's not a big deal."
While the bounce of the Wimbledon courts is much more even these days, and a shade slower, it is the mindset of the Spanish and South Americans that has changed the more substantially, aided by the modern game being dominated by baseliners. David Nalbandian's surprise arrival in the 2002 final heralded the shift, and then came Nadal, reaching two finals before defeating Roger Federer last year.
Now there are Spanish speakers everywhere, blazing away from the back of court, and even approaching the net with a degree of familiarity that would have been deemed remarkable a decade ago. It has led, inevitably, to a certain amount of homogeneity, although there is no doubt that grass-court tennis is much more entertaining now that the serve is no longer so dominant. A few more volleys would not go amiss, of course – ah, those dear, dead days of Tim Henman.
García-López reached the third round at Wimbledon and the Nottingham quarter-finals last year, and it was immediately clear against Murray that he was at ease on the surface. When Murray fizzed three aces and a spanking forehand past him in the opening salvoes of the first set, any Spaniard of old, the clay of Roland Garros still gritting his socks, might have sighed a deep sigh and metaphorically headed for the locker room.
This Nuevo Spaniard, ranked just outside the top 50, allowed Murray his scintillating start, then proceeded to unleash a series of forehands that left the world No3 under no illusions that he could canter to the finishing post.
García-López, 26, won his first career title on clay in Kitzbuhel just before the French Open, greatly increasing his self-assurance: "Rafa's success was because of Rafa and that's it, but it gave everybody confidence to play on this surface."
However on this occasion, for all the Spaniard's many qualities, there was never a suggestion that Murray was anything other than in control. His second-round win over Italy's Andreas Seppi had taken a minute short of an hour, and this was only 10 minutes longer.
"I feel good on the court. I'm moving well, hitting the ball clean," said Murray. "Against Fish it will be a good test. But sometimes you have to wait and play against one of the top guys really to see where your game is at."
That opportunity may come against Roddick on Sunday.
The field is more than a little thin – Rafael Nadal has pulled out and last year's runner-up, Novak Djokovic, was not invited back – and it was a pity that two former four-times champions, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick, had to meet as early as the third round yesterday, with Roddick winning 7–6 (7–2), 7–6 (7–4) to meet Croatia's walking telegraph pole, Ivo Karlovic, in the quarter-finals. Their match was briefly delayed by a bomb scare, though both players were perfectly phlegmatic as the routine procedures were undertaken. There was no evacuation.
Murray reached the last eight for the second successive year with a 6–4, 6–4 victory over Spain's Guillermo García-López. Last year, having injured his thumb, Murray defaulted against Roddick, and tomorrow faces another American, Mardy Fish, whom he has beaten twice in three previous meetings, though they have not played for three years. "We get on well and he's a very good grass- court player. He has a big serve, likes to come to the net. I'll have to pass and return well," said the Scot.
Hewitt, the Wimbledon champion in 2002, believes Murray is the favourite for the title here. "And at this stage he has to be third favourite behind Federer and Nadal for Wimbledon. As for Roger and Rafa not playing this week, it's not a big deal."
While the bounce of the Wimbledon courts is much more even these days, and a shade slower, it is the mindset of the Spanish and South Americans that has changed the more substantially, aided by the modern game being dominated by baseliners. David Nalbandian's surprise arrival in the 2002 final heralded the shift, and then came Nadal, reaching two finals before defeating Roger Federer last year.
Now there are Spanish speakers everywhere, blazing away from the back of court, and even approaching the net with a degree of familiarity that would have been deemed remarkable a decade ago. It has led, inevitably, to a certain amount of homogeneity, although there is no doubt that grass-court tennis is much more entertaining now that the serve is no longer so dominant. A few more volleys would not go amiss, of course – ah, those dear, dead days of Tim Henman.
García-López reached the third round at Wimbledon and the Nottingham quarter-finals last year, and it was immediately clear against Murray that he was at ease on the surface. When Murray fizzed three aces and a spanking forehand past him in the opening salvoes of the first set, any Spaniard of old, the clay of Roland Garros still gritting his socks, might have sighed a deep sigh and metaphorically headed for the locker room.
This Nuevo Spaniard, ranked just outside the top 50, allowed Murray his scintillating start, then proceeded to unleash a series of forehands that left the world No3 under no illusions that he could canter to the finishing post.
García-López, 26, won his first career title on clay in Kitzbuhel just before the French Open, greatly increasing his self-assurance: "Rafa's success was because of Rafa and that's it, but it gave everybody confidence to play on this surface."
However on this occasion, for all the Spaniard's many qualities, there was never a suggestion that Murray was anything other than in control. His second-round win over Italy's Andreas Seppi had taken a minute short of an hour, and this was only 10 minutes longer.
"I feel good on the court. I'm moving well, hitting the ball clean," said Murray. "Against Fish it will be a good test. But sometimes you have to wait and play against one of the top guys really to see where your game is at."
That opportunity may come against Roddick on Sunday.
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