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The business end of Wimbledon is approaching and first seed Andy Murray will be out for another straight forward progression when he takes on dangerous Frenchman Benoit Paire. Join The Roar for live scores from around 11:30pm (AEST).
Murray cruised through the first two rounds of the tournament after a build-up hampered by injury, but had a little bit of a tougher time against Italian Fabio Fognini in the third round on Saturday.
After a semi-final exit at the French Open and a loss in his only grass court game before Wimbledon to Jordan Thompson at Eastbourne, there was an air of uncertainty over the world No.1.
He seemed to put all that to bed in the first two rounds though, dropping only a combined 14 games across six sets against youngster Alexander Bublik and the entertaining Dustin Brown.
His level ever so slightly dropped in the second set of his fourth round battle against Fognini though, and he took it 6-4. The final score still results in a convincing win for Murray though, with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory ensuing.
Paire has struggled on grass courts throughout his career, winning just over 50 per cent of his matches. Despite that, a strong serve and well-balanced net game should actually suit the surface, and it’s a constant waiting game for him to get a good mix of draws and form.
It appears as though he may be starting to run into some of the later though. A semi-final appearance in Stuttgart got his grass court season underway, before he exited early in Halle against Florian Mayer.
He has proven his talent so far at Wimbledon though. This time last year, he took a big five-set win over Bernard Tomic and with a style that plays points quickly, he could put Murray under pressure that way.
A four-set win got Wimbledon underway for Paire against Rogerio Dutra Da Silva, before he came away with a straight-sets victory over the more fancied Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
The third round saw another easy victory in three sets, this time over Jerzy Janowicz and it appears the world No.46 is in something approaching his best ever form.
The pair have faced on two previous occasions, with Murray winning both. However, neither were on grass or at a grand slam, and Paire is a much stronger player than he was last time they met more than a year ago.
The winner will advance to the quarter-finals and face either Sam Querrey or Kevin Anderson.
Prediction
Despite his low win rate, Paire’s style actually should suit grass courts. If his serve fires, he will challenge Murray – he won’t win though. Murray is a class above, even at this stage of the tournament.
Murray in four sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of this fourth round match from around 11:30pm (AEST) or at the completion of Ana Konjuh versus Venus Williams on the centre court and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.