Andy Murray beats Karlovic to reach Wimbledon quarter-finals

Giant Croatian Karlovic stands between 2013 Wimbledon champion Murray and an eighth consecutive SW19 quarter-final appearance. While it did cost him the set, it also enabled him to storm back strongly in the fourth set.

And if more proof was needed of the problem Karlovic posed, it was the nature of his wins. “A couple matches he served over 40 aces”, said the 28-year-old Murray.

“Serving well on a grass court is always a tricky combination”. The first set tie-break was comfortably won by Wawrinka, who lost three points.

A broken string from a first serve created a delay in play at 30-30 and Karlovic pounced to seal the set 7-5 as Murray hit a sloppy backhand into the net.

In total, he spent over eight hours on court in the two matches.

Wimbledon is one of the highest bet sporting events in the world and punters eagerly make pre-match bets via the leading online sportsbooks in the world. bet365 Sports is one of those sportsbooks and they are offering live in play markets, as well as a plethora of pre-match props.

After a small hiccup, Roger Federer quickly found his stride again to advance at Wimbledon. Then do the same thing over and over until during one service game you notice a chink in your opponent.

It was not, of course, quite as easy as that.

Murray broke Karlovic in the opening game of the second set.

The Briton did brilliantly to retrieve another thundering Karlovic serve but the Croatian’s volley looked to have caught the line before, to the surprise of both players, an optimistic challenge fell in Murray’s favour. The Swiss has not dropped a set at the championships and goes on to play 21st seed Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals after the Frenchman beat Australia’s Nick Krygios. Murray had 62 winners and just nine unforced errors and made it to where Karlovic had to hit great shots consistently to win points and games.

And then it all changed in the blink of an eye. He then served it out easily to go two sets up.

The Canadian earned a break in the third set for a 5-4 lead.

“I’ll need to be very sharp on my returns and try to find a way to get as many of his serves back in play as possible”, Murray said. But a remarkably agile Karlovic leapt for winning volley and held.

This pair have matched up five times previously with Murray winning all the encounters.

“The physio came on the court and said it was like a machine gun going off when he laid on top of me”, Murray said.

“It was an incredibly hard match, it was mentally tiring because you just have to be ready when the chances come”.

Andy Murray furthered his reputation as one of the sharpest returners in the game as the Scot overcame Ivo Karlovic’s demon serve to book his place in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

Vasek Pospisil, the world No 56, is only the fourth Canadian man to reach the last 16 and he faces Serbia’s 22nd seed Viktor Troicki.

Later Monday, Pospisil and American partner Jack Sock – the defending men’s doubles champions – lost their third-round match against Australia’s John Peers and Britain’s Jamie Murray.