Wimbledon 2012: Andy Murray v Ivo Karlovic

Shadows begin to stretch across Centre, dark from the feet of the security guards, lacey from the net. Murray cannot get a sniff on the Karlo serve; hold now or we're levellled up.

Judy Murray there courtside - she's been elsewhere this afternoon. Keeping an eye on the British ladies. Her youngest son holds to love, and it feels once again as if we're steering an inevitable path towards another tie-break here.

130mph ace from Karlovic - not easy to argue with that. Strawberry-sweet touch at the net once, twice; back in front, the scoreboard pressure now leaning a little on those broad Scottish shoulders,

Murray pulverises a forehand down the line, fuelled by beetle-browed anger. Rat-a-tat-tat volleys at the net, Karlo crumbling first. Drive-volley for 40-15; ace down the middle to bring us level.

Karlo kareers to 30-0 but then double-faults to open the door - no no, wasteful backhand cross-court from Murray off a soft second serve. Jack Nicklaus at Wimbledon today, I'm being told. Feeble forehand from Murray, and he's starting to rile himself out there.

Fifth double-fault from Murray for 0-15; punching serve down the line for 15-15. Karlo duffs a pair of forehands into the net; Murray draws level.

Here we go, here we go - crashing forehand to set up a loose ball at the net he can put away for 0-30. Karlo ace - no, called for a foot-fault again! Better second serve, even better volley deep into the corner for 15-30. And again! Wonderful touch. Thrashing serve down the middle, Murray stretching to biff back long.

Murray whipping topspins to the Karlo backhand again, winning every point that goes that way. Not quite sure that Ivo has worked out a counter-strategy to that yet. Time ticking away.

Mmmm - cherry of a return from Murray, flicking the wrists on a backhand service return to ping back a winner into the backhand corner and move to 15-30 on the Karlo serve. Flopsy forehand to give away 30-30; shout of anger as a backhand block drops short.

Baseline exchange, Murray targeting the Karlo backhand, nagging and teasing, stepping in to the inevitable loose reply to drill away the winner. Ace! down the middle, untroubled hold. A few empty seats around Centre, less a reflection of the Murray love and more the need to take courtesy breaks and re-fil glasses after almost two and a half hours of tennis.

Ace from Karlovic, his 943rd of the match so far, and he follows it with an absolute peach of an angled volley off his toes, like a giraffe picking off some low-hanging fruit. Another ace out wide, not a lot Murray can do about that.

Not sure how Murray got that return back, but he did, and he forces a deuce point courtesy of a forehand winner. Handy net cord for Karlovic, but he follows up with a double-fault... Murray with another cross-court pass to force a break-point and he follows up with some tremendous scrambling for a second break...

Karlovic showing his size there, struggling to get his body out of the way of a Murray forehand before the Scot puts away an easy forehand winner. Wild and windy forehand from Karlovic, that's a hold to love...

Karlovic spreading his wings at the net and putting away a rock-solid volley and the Croatian holds with some ease...

Dreamy backhand slicing drop-shot from Murray, shortly followed by a woeful version of the same. 40-30. Big serve, Karlo framing away at an obtuse angle, break maintained.

Glimpse there of Murray's coach Ivan Lendl, quirkily wearing two pairs of glasses - one prescription, on his nose, one sunny, perched atop his cap. Crunching power-serves from Karlovic, and he's on the board in this developing third set.

Murray a little stroppy out there - the machine is hardly well-oiled, but it's chugging well enough to back up the break.

Now then. Murray screams to the skies after another lackluste attempted pass, but he has a sniff at break point as his opponent wilts under prolonged pressure like a thirsty sunflower. Karlo to the net, Murray in trouble, the lob... the lob is perfection! Break taken, relieved applause around sunny Centre.

Karlo stuffs a backhand wide but it's a brief malaise - into the breaker, into the breaker...

Karlovic's backhand slice is an ugly old thing, as reliable as the British summer. Another into the net, a forehand follower drifting long. Who said tie-break?

Murray stares at the cloud-strewn skies in anguish as a feeble forehand nose-dives into the net. Crispy backhand volley from Ivo for 40-15, but he then outside-edges a Murray cross-courter that was going wide - 40-30. You don't think th... no, don't bother, big serve, level pegs.

A few match stats for you: Karlo has six aces so far, but Andy has seven. Touché. Murray currently winning 83% of points on his first serve (Karlo 81%); and the fastest serve of the day is currently Ivo's 135mph. Murray not too far behind on 131mph. Hold without a tremor.

Karlo cuts a backhand slice too fine and finds the net. Struggling to dent the Murray serve at all, and Murray purrs to his chair to place a rolled white towel around his shoulders like a victorious prize-fighter.

Oh, that's a peach from Murray - a lob from the back of the court than sails over the 6ft 10ins Karlo and dies to bite the baseline. Lucky net-cord from the big man and he levels up with an apologetic shrug.

Acer down the middle from Murray. Seldom troubled on his serve after that opening game of the first set, Scotland's finest, which is obviously the sign for Karlo to immediately haul him back to deuce. Sorry about that. Karlo can't get his reaching racquet out and down for that volley - advantage Muz - and an ace skidding wide to the backhand side snuffs out the sparks.

Fizzing return from Murray onto Karlo's size 16s, and the Croat can only cover-drive that along the turf into the net. Easy overhead off a deep forehand volley for 30-30. Karlo to the net - Murray thrashes a backhand, blocked back; aims a cross pass, splendid volley again from the Croat. An hour into the match now, and a wasteful block return from Murray long. Lars Graf in the umpire's chair today, if you hadn't seen - severe face, that man, but I'm told a heart of pure gold.

Nice stat from you: From Karlovic's first serves, Murray has just 0.571 seconds to get his racquet in the right place. Try that at home, perhaps with a grape and rolled-up newspaper. Karlo holds to 15 with boomers thrashed out wide.

A large Scottish saltire is waved with happy abandon just in front of our commentary box. Limited number of Union flags visible around Centre - read whatever cessationist runes into that you like. Brace of double-faults from Murray to murmurs of surprise, but that's a hapless backhand from his long-limbed opponent and the ball buries itself in the stringy embrace of the net.

Bright sunshine now on Centre, a rarity in this most shambolic of so-called summers. Murray nails that first serve once again to edge back in front. Karlo goes to his chair and sucks moodily on a golden pouch of energy gel. Murray opting for what looks like a lemon barley-water. Old-school.

Wonderful return of serve from Murray, battering a forehand onto Karlo's toes to force the error. 0-30. Now then. Oh, lovely volley from the big unit, in behind his beefy serve to finesse away a winner at the tape. Murray in fast, backhand dink into space, Karlo lunging... long! Two set points. Crushing serve out wide, and that nearly punches a clean hole in Murray's frame. Chance part deux. Serve... crashing down the middle, no getting that back. There's another, second serve this time, screaming out wide at 117mph, and the Croat has wriggled off the hook.

Rapid hold for Murray, a nod of approval from Kim Sears, aviator shades in place as always. Shot at a break for the set here.

Collector's item: Karlo kalled for a foot-fault. Big serve, ricocheting off the green screen at the back of the court and skimming up into the Royal Box to gasps of horror from the patriotic patrons. Still those regicidal fears - it's missed Middleton, it's missed Kendall, it's struck a lady in a fuschia trouser-suit no more than a glancing blow on the shoulder-pad.

Lord alive, the power on that Karlo forehand - Murray pirouettes on the baseline but can only frame it into the cordon waiting on the front row. Crackeroo of a serve down the middle, a portly line-judge stepping smartly to his left to avoid a faceful of yellow fuzz.

Murray to the net - flicker of a backhand cross-court, Karlo lumbering after it - oh, what a shot! With the ball seemingly beyond him he snakes out an arm like Mr Tickle and somehow reverse-sticks the ball back across the behind the scampering Murray's back. Conjuring trick de jour.

Karlovic batters a brace of forehands way beyond the baseline and then flops a feeble backhand service return into the net - straightforward hold, happy applause from the serried ranks of British fans. Huge numbers of Henman Hill today - a sea of pink arms and exposed legs.

Parasols, to be technically correct. Booming flat serves out wide from Karlo, and the two rows of Chelsea Pensioners seated down there are in danger of wearing a tennis ball as well as their trademark red uniforms. Lovely touch from the big man at the net, a gossamer backhand drop-volley that Murray gives up as extinct.

They've met three times before, these two, with Murray holding an encouraging 3-0 record in the head to heads. All three on hard courts, though - never on grass, never in a Grand Slam. And not since 2008. There we go - four first serves, game held to love. The players to their chairs for the changeover, Wimbledon issue purple and green umbrellas held over them by supplicant ball-persons.

An omen: Murray has never failed to reach the third round here at Wimbledon in his six previous appearances. I said omen, not curse. That's the ticket - whipping pass off a running forehand, Ivo a giant statue at the net. Slice and dice, slice and dice, Karlovic can't get that low, and he'll clunk that into the net. Break-back points. First serve down the middle but wide by an inch, second serve flat and hard down the middle - 128mph, a second serve in name only. Karlo to the net. Murray flashing a forehand - oof, snicking off the tape and past Karlovic's startled nose for the winner. Break back it is...

Karlovic 33 years old now, his ATP ranking out at 59. For a man with his howitzer serve his Wimbledon record is a little patchy - 11 wins down the years, eight defeats. Down the years he's won 40 matches on grass but lost 21. Drop-shot from Murray, Ivo motionless beyond the baseline, and the Briton races to 40-30. Backhand slice into the net, forehand wide, lazy backhand again into the net - deuce, from nowhere. Oh, too easy for Karlovic, stepping in to a second serve to cream a forehand winner away. Break point, thrown away... Karlovic with another deep forehand, Murray slicing... into the net! Broken in his first game from 4-0, five straight service points lost, and that's a ghastly way to begin.