No one, particularly not Andy Murray, thought it would be pretty and few thought it would be easy but the world No.3 is through to his 18th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final - and his eighth at Wimbledon - after cutting Ivo Karlovic down to size.
Murray’s consistency at the major tournaments is testament to his single-minded dedication to making himself the best tennis player he can be. The talent came with the genes but it was up to Murray to use it wisely and hone it well.
Karlovic, too, has done everything within his power to make the most of his gifts and at the age of 36 and standing a mighty 6ft 11ins, his greatest gift is his serve. The question was, then, could his serving power overcome Murray’s all-round game? And after three hours and three minutes, we got the answer: no. Murray won 7-6(7), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
There were moments of brilliance – some of the returns, most of the passing shots – and there moments of pure cheek. As Karlovic served to stay in the first set, Murray did the unimaginable: he lobbed the big man. And then he lobbed him again. And again.
The first time, Karlovic did not even try to get to the ball – he knew it was a clean winner from the Scot. The second time, he waved his racket in the general direction of the ball as it sailed over his head. The third time, he had a swipe at it but fluffed his smash and sent it wide. The lob was to become a recurring theme in the match.
But for that first set, the chances that Murray created were invariably nullified by yet another big serve. The world No.3 flung himself around the court to create a total of five break points but then Karlovic would step up to the baseline and thump down another monster serve. The three lobs gave him three set points but they were met by a thundering second serve and three aces and we were back on track for a tie-break. That said, Murray had sowed some seeds of doubt in the Croatian’s mind.
With such a powerful serve, it would seem to make sense to follow in behind it – and that is what Karlovic loves to do. But spotting that Dr Ivo likes to position himself very close to the net in order to attack, Murray’s lobs were a gentle reminder: come in and I will pass you, stand with your nose hanging over the net and I will lob you. Now what are you going to do? And what Karlovic did was hesitate. That was not a good idea.
Even so, Murray had to work for his chances. He saw six set points come and go before he could claim the opener and when finally he closed out the tie-break, he turned to his team in the players’ box and roared. It was almost as if he had won the title but he knew that opportunities would be as rare as fish feet so when he had one, he had to make the most of it. With one set in the bank, the relief was palpable.
Getting the early break at the start of the second set was all that was required to take a 2-0 lead and then we were back to the nip and tuck stuff in the third set. And as they got to the business end of that set, Murray made two rare mistakes. By that stage and after more than two hours of effort, Murray had committed just five unforced errors – and then he hit two in a row. One backhand hit the net and another forehand sailed over the baseline. He had dropped his serve and with it, the set.
Drastic measures were called for and as the fourth set reached the midway mark, Murray launched himself at every Karlovic serve. The constant pressure brought the desired result – a break of serve and the route map to that quarter-final on Wednesday against Vasek Pospisil.