Andy Murray beats Tommy Robredo at Wimbledon 2013

By Piers NewberyBBC Sport at Wimbledon

Last updated on .From the section Tenniscomments463

Wimbledon 2013: Andy Murray through to round four

Andy Murray secured his place in the second week of Wimbledon with a comprehensive straight-sets win over Tommy Robredo in round three.

The second seed won 6-2 6-4 7-5 under the Centre Court roof to reach the last 16 without dropping a set.

And over Mariana Duque-Marino on the same court means Britain could still have two players in singles action at the start of week two.

Robson must return on Saturday to play Marina Erakovic, while Murray can enjoy a weekend off before he comes back on Monday to face Mikhail Youzhny or Viktor Troicki.

The 26-year-old is now three wins from a return to the final next Sunday, and in the absence of the beaten Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, is well placed to reach his fourth successive Grand Slam final.

"People are putting even more pressure on me because of the nature of how the draw has worked out," said Murray.

"It would be a lot easier if we just concentrated on each match at a time. Upsets are never far away and you have to be very focused on your game to avoid that."

Robredo, 31, has battled his way back from 471 in the world last year to his current ranking of 29 after a leg injury, but overcoming the world number two proved a challenge too far.

With the roof closed after rain began to fall as the players first made their way to court, Murray cranked up the pressure early on.

He grabbed a break in game three with a heavy cross-court forehand that Robredo could not handle, and moved 4-1 up when the Spaniard fired a forehand long.

The Scot's double break lasted only a couple of minutes as a sloppy service game followed, but a blistering backhand winner helped him to a third break and the set was his in just over half an hour.

Robredo's Centre Court debut was in danger of being embarrassingly swift when the world number two cracked a backhand past him to break at the start of the second set.

The Spaniard managed to cling on gamely, and Murray showed a rare chink in his armour as he slipped break point down while trying to serve it out, but a huge forehand that sent Robredo tumbling at the baseline saw off the danger.

Robredo had come back from two sets down in three successive matches at the French Open earlier this month, and did not crumble this time.

It took a Murray backhand volley that landed on the back of the baseline to set up the chance of a decisive break at 5-5, and Robredo netted to effectively end his challenge.

Murray saw one match point slip by when Robredo fired a spectacular forehand winner, but moments later the Spaniard failed to repeat the trick and the British number one took his now customary place in week two.

"I thought I struck the ball really well from the start of the match," said Murray. "I had a lot of winners and that was probably the most pleasing part.

"The third set was a tough one so I've been tested and come through it well. I hope I can keep playing better."

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  • The disrespect on here , going on about Murray going bald, his personality etc... Last week he raised 300 grand for cancer because his best friend has it , his friend went bald with the treatment , i am sure that would be the least of your worries . So what if Murray is a very guarded person . He went through the Dunblane Massacre and it affected him badly ...Now give the guy a break please.

  • Murray in fantastic form its genuinely exciting. 'In the absence of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal...' No. Murray would have reached the final anyway on this form.

  • 59. mattyrjb
    -----
    He's a professional sportsman, not a media personality. Totally separate things. Just because our culture seems to want everybody in the public eye (for whatever reason) to have the same exhausting, endlessly upbeat persona doesn't mean that everyone is born with it. Next time I'll shove you in front of some cameras to dissect your job in minute detail, shall I?

  • What a well thought out and executed match from Ooor Andy!
    Almost perfection!

  • @18 Mid-20s, fit as a fiddle, one of the best tennis players in the world, beautiful girlfriend, loads of money... I'll happily trade my hair for that!

  • @james_Band if winning queens then following that up with 3 straight sets victories over tricky opponents doesn't show form then what does? the only thing that is flawed is me not being able to insert a suitable insult for fear of moderation.

  • 18. Cm
    Hahaha. Murray is going to be bald in a few years you can see a little bald patch already!!
    -
    You shouldn't laugh, one day you might go bald yourself. Still, that's probably a few decades away yet, first you have to be old enough to grow a moustache :-)

  • Great to see to Brits going foward to next week

  • Andy Murray: British, and a Scot - and brilliant. I'm English and see nothing wrong in Scots folk claiming him as such - nor anything wrong in me getting behind the best British player for decades. Good luck Murray!

  • 10. James_Band

    Er, wrong. He's being touted as a Wimbledon champion because he won the US Open, Olympics and he's ranked number 2 in the world. He's also seen off three lower ranked players in solid fashion as he should do because he's currently playing so well and not giving his opponents a chance.

  • I am ashamed to say it but Murray and Robson's respective victories today have brought out the lowest of the low. Is this is what patriotism does to people, turn them into bitter and envious hostiles?

    We have a country that people from all over the world are proud to call home. We have two fabulous players to be proud of. And we idiots hiding behind their keyboards bringing shame to us all.

  • Andy Murray just blasted a very good tennis player off the court without breaking sweat. He is rather good, isn't he?

  • He has no anti English feelings, he lives in England, his girlfriend is English and his granny is English

    simply WUMs that won't let a worn out old story lie, it's really really boring and adds nothing, they have nothing worthwhile to say

  • Pleasure to see Andy and Laura winning so easily today! I won british titles with Andy as a junior so I know how good the guy is........ lets keep things positive on here please.........

  • More ignorance on here than on the Twitter feed during the match.

    Sweeping generalisations about Murrays nature despite not knowing the man are a bit irrational, no? Notwithstanding the fact that every reason the ABM lot use to justify their dislike has been comprehensively and repeatedly debunked.

    As for the match itself, consummate performance, looking as good as can be expected into Week 2.

  • Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner for the most jealous comment on the Beeb ever. Step forward @Cm, did life not bless you with motivation?

  • I was great to see the crowd being so supportive of Andy. One spectator kept shouting "come on Tommy", only then to be drowned by everyone else shouting for Murray. The positive atmosphere there wholly contrasts the bitter, jealous comments made a tiny minority of bloggers. These attention seekers get more vitriolic with each Murray victory, but their comments reflect on on themselves, not Andy.

  • Getting better as the tournament is going on, Good luck for next week, Andy.

  • @82 as a fellow Scot wind your neck in and support the Brits.
    It's people like you who give the London football supporters a Good Name!!
    Come on Andy and Laura

  • Another clinical performance from Murray. Interesting how commentators refer to predictable victories in professional tennis. Still haven't learnt from the Federer loss to realize that in sport, predicting anything is foolish. The difference in ability between 1-100 is negligible - its the mental side that separates.

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