leicsmac

Murray played so poorly for the first set and a half...but that's happened before. Now Cilic is folding.

Murray not shown up so far...Cilic been painting the lines but Murray has been very poor.

Seems the consistency is still an issue. That said, he's got one break back in the second set here and it actually seems that he's got out of bed.

Murray stamps Raonic into the dust...was a very very good performance. Perhaps he's beginning to hit form when it matters.

Fish forced to retire prematch against Federer with heart problems, could be the end of his career. I hope not because that's a sad way to go out for anyone. Fed now has a potentially tricky QF against Berdych, depending on which Berdych shows up of course - wildly inconsistent at Slams is the Berdbrain. Murray shouldn't really have many problems with Cilic.

Raonic is an extremely dangerous player. He will swing freely being the underdog and has beaten Murray in their only meeting to date. A day match on the faster Grandstand court would be extremely tricky, and mentally demanding given that more than 1 tiebreak would be a distinct possibility.

Cilic looked v good versus Nishikori and has despatched Murray very handily at the US open before. Murray needs to use the aggressive game employed at the Olympics and with which he got to the 2008 final here (super aggressive in beating rafa in the SF)

A couple of things here...Raonic is a very good server, but then Murray is probably the second best returner on the Tour. I think Murray would be able to do enough to negate Raonic's serve (like he has done with Karlovic in the past) and Raonic wouldn't be able to break through on Murray's service game, unless Murray was serving very badly indeed.

As for Cilic...the H2H is 7-1 in Murray's favour for a reason. Cilic doesn't have any weapons to really hurt Murray, as shown in most of their encounters. The one time he beat Murray (USO 2009), Murray was carrying a wrist injury which then put him out for three months after the event, so I honestly think that can be disregarded with respect to form. IMO Cilic will be less of a threat than Raonic - at least Raonic has the serve which could pose a threat.

Totally agree with you on the aggression though - he's at his best when he plays like that, as the Olympics showed.

Reckon Murray had one of his brain fades - doesn't happen as often as it used to but it still does, in spite of Lendl's work on his mentality. That combined with the heat and humidity made this match tougher than it should have been.

Hoping Blake beats Raonic later today - not only would it mean an easier opponent, but a practically guaranteed night match on Ashe.

Interesting factoid - the last two times Murray has played on Armstrong Court (before today), he lost to Wawrinka in 2010 and had to come back from two sets down against Robin Haase in 2011, so it's safe to say it's not really a place where he feels at home.

Robson has really impressed me this tournament - it bodes well for the future.

Headphone wires

Knelt down to get some food out of the oven, had my headphones on to my phone in my pocket, gone to kneel back-up and this headphone wire has got caught under my knee on my shin as I hold a blazing hot casserole dish.

Hand jolts inside of oven in lapse of judgement(male), burnt all up and food all over lap and floor and I still cant get up for the wire and my hand is stinging like a bitch.

Wireless bluetooth headphones FTW here. Can pick them up on Amazon for around 25 quid.

Tsonga out...if Raonic goes out too today (possible) then Murrays path to a semifinal becomes a whole lot less difficult in one day,

Brilliant performance from Robson. Going to need something exactly like that to have a chance against Na Li in the third round, but if she plays like that again anything is possible.

On the mens side...no real shocks so far. Glad to see Del P is in Djokovic's side of the draw and not Federer/Murrays...he will be a big threat if on form.

People going on about Raonic being a threat to Murray don't have a clue what they're saying - he's a massive flake, as borne by the fact that he needed 5 sets to beat a qualifier yesterday. I doubt he'll even make it to round 4.

Federer's corner of the draw looks pretty clean, apart from Berdych. Djokovic has a couple of potential banana skins, Del P amongst them. Murray's quarter seems ok, no real dangerous floaters. Tsonga in the QF would be tough, but Murray hasn't had many problems with him in the past.

Grosse Pointe Blank,great film ,can't believe i hadn't seen it before

Good shout - one of the best black comedies out there.

Best player never to win a Slam. So many statistics saying that this is the case. Could possibly make the case for being the world's unluckiest sportsman too (in terms of opportunities at least).

It would be a bit of a shame if he was remembered as that - but there's still time. He just to keep putting himself in GS finals (this will not be his last one) and needs that bit more luck.

He needs one final - just one, when one of that Great Tirumvirate are not on the other side of the net.

Each of those three won their first Slam playing a lesser player in the final. Murray sadly doesn't seem to have that same luck.

Federer has played some sublime stuff. Held on enough to nick the second set and from then has really turned it on.

I'll be honest, I didn't think he had it in him anymore. I was wrong. It's good to see him back at world no.1.

As for Murray...there will be other GS finals. He's too good not to keep putting himself in the frame...and maybe one day it'll come together.

Off to the local bar to watch the match.

Good luck Andy. Either way, history is going to be made.

My tips for the Wimby final:

Either Federer 3-0 @ 3.7 if the occasion gets to Murray...

or Murray 3-1 @ 6.8 if it doesn't.

Can't see it going to 5 as when these two meet one of them tends to get ahead and stay ahead for the most part.

Amazing match - was worried at the end of the third set, but he came through and the atmosphere for the last game was unbelievable.

Oh, and to the people deriding him on account of his personality (not a fan of deadpan comedians then?) or because of a illusionary nationality issue (see the flag and three letters next to his name when he steps out onto court? THAT'S who he's representing, and no, he doesn't hate the English) I refer you to Ian MacShane's famous toast line from Sexy Beast.

"Gentlemen. You're all cvnts."

Irrational dislike for a reason that can be easily disproven is sad.

Yeah to be fair it did work in this particular match, his opponent completely imploded after that. I fully agree that he's a great player but unfortunately for him he's playing in the golden age of tennis where he is going to struggle to win many slams

Yeah, to have three of the best players of all time playing at the same time as you is a real buzzkill.

Still, if I think he wins one he'll go on a run and get more.

Ok well we will have to agree to disagree. One of his matches in the French was an absolute embarrassment and it just shows a lack of respect for your opponent

Fair enough - but if the opponent is stupid enough to let his guard down because he 'might' have an injury he deserves everything that's coming to him, quite frankly.

Mind games are an integral part of high-level sport, and everyone uses them...Nadal's timewasting, Djoko's tactical MTO's etc. All about distracting the focus of the opponent and perfectly legitimate as long as no rules are broken. The age of 'taking part that counts' is long over.

I wonder who they're going to stick on CC first on Friday?

For selfish reasons I hope it's the Murray-Tsonga match otherwise it's going to be a late one out at the bar for me, but I'm thinking it probably will be the Fed-Djoko match.

I agree with this however I quite simply couldn't support him if he played Federer, probably my favourite sportsman of my lifetime.

Understandable enough, I don't support Fed, but I do have the utmost respect for his skill - he's the most talented and artisan player on the Tour. It's such a shame with age and the court homogenisation now that Nadal and Djoko can just hit through him. It would be nice to see him win one more GS before spending more time with his family though.

One of those days

Fair enough mate, we all have 'em.

For me I'd like to see more high-level British players coming through the system, and a British GS winner would, I think, encourage that by fostering interest. One of the reasons I'd like to see Murray get that first GS.

Hope Tsonga destroys him. Sick of seeing his mum in the crowd too the ugly bint

Want another chip for the other shoulder?

4 tough, tough sets, but he outground the grinder.

Now for Tsonga.

Murray gritting his teeth and holding on - now 2-1 up. One more set Andy!

Definitely a step up in difficulty for Murray, but if he can play with some variety rather than just trying to hit through Ferrer (as Del P did) then he should be able to carve out enough chances to win.