Andreas Seppi: ‘I have nothing to lose against Andy Murray’

It’s the fourth year in a row that Nadal leaves the All England Club early.

Sure enough, even before the gates opened to the public, the sky was dark and heavy with humidity. He may be 31 but the Italian is a good all-rounder. But his half hour done, he was off and the covers were on. This has become the norm wherever Murray lays his racket bag, and Court 1 was no different.

It was bordering on humiliation but although Haase looked as if he would gladly leave by the nearest fire escape he had the courage to at least try to make a fight of it. And the humility to join in the applause in the final game after Murray had beaten him with a piece of wizardry at the net to finish off the best rally of this one-sided contest with a sublimely disguised passing shot.

“He flew over with me last December for the training block in Miami and his musical taste was interesting”.

It was a miserable performance by Haase, who took a set off Murray in each of their two encounters at the US Open, most recently past year, but was woefully out of his depth here. I played him once in Australia, where I played a very good match. “Yeah, I managed to stop him from gaining any momentum”.

“We’ve done a few training blocks together”, said the Scot. “He stayed with me in Miami a few times”. That was their first meeting, in Rotterdam in 2008. Murray is now one of those people like Seppi want to avoid, particularly here, in such a potentially partisan environment. He served out for 6-1. Organizers said rain showers were forecast to continue into the afternoon.

The difference between good and great players is not just talent, but also focus and patience. This is the ultimate goal of Murray’s coach at this stage and he thinks making Murray aggressive might take some time.

He cruised past Haase in the sixth game, winning it without dropping a point to go 5-1 up. Haase saved one but the world No. 73 was wilting under pressure and went long with a forehand in the next point to fall behind for the first time.

Legendary tennis coach Nick Bollettieri puts the success of the partnership down to the fact that Murray’s career started under the guidance of his mother, which made working with another female voice in command so much easier. He was clearly enjoying the moment and the quality of his win, as he afterwards confirmed.

Out of desperation, on one point in the third set, Haase ran right toward Murray as he prepared to hit an overhead smash, then ducked away at the last second as the Briton drilled the ball down the middle.

Speaking before the match, Murray told reporters Haase was someone he was familiar with, so there wouldn’t be any surprises on Thursday, per the Guardian’s Kevin Mitchell: “He is someone I grew up with, in juniors and stuff like that”.

“I was very happy with the way that I played, I thought there was some things I could have done better in the first round”.

Andreas Seppi (25), Italy, def. Borna Coric, Croatia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-1.

AT three minutes to nine on Wednesday night Centre Court had to be evacuated after a small fire broke out in an electrical room.

Pospisil will face British wild card James Ward, who battled past Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 6-2, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3.