Murray marches on as Wimbledon draws ever closer

The road from Queen’s Club to Wimbledon is one that can lead to great success. Just ask Pete Sampras, Lleyton Hewitt, or last year’s winner at Queen’s club, Rafael Nadal - three players who won at Queen’s on their way to the bigger prize. So while it may be premature to mention Andy Murray in the same breath as such fine players, on current form, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to discount the young Scot from his maiden grass court title, and, whisper it quietly, Wimbledon.

Granted, we’ve been here before, but with 11 ATP Tour titles to his name, and three titles won this year alone, it’s clear that Murray is made of sterner stuff than his British predecessors.

The number one seed booked his place in the semi-finals at Queens Club, comfortably defeating Mardy Fish 7-5, 6-3. The Scot will now face former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero for a place in the final, who looked impressive on the grass yesterday and has the pedigree to trouble the 22 year old. On current form, however, it’s hard to look past the ever confident and assured Murray, who doesn’t look like dropping a set, let alone lose a match.

Fish’s game plan came as no surprise. The American was heavily reliant on his powerful serve, and looked to come to the net at every opportunity; a throwback to the days of Tiger Tim, if you will.

But to win tournaments consistently you need more variety, something that Murray has in abundance. The Scot played intelligently, as you would expect, and served well - 69% of his first serves found the mark, and 30 of 31 points that were contested on his first serve were won.

The breaks of serve were just as impressive. In the eleventh game of the first set, Murray raced into a 0-40 lead, and after getting back into the game at 30-40, a routine smash from Fish went awry, gifting the set to Murray.

There were two breaks of serve in the second set, both coming from fine backhand service returns. The first left Fish trapped on the baseline, and the American duly swallowed the bait. The second came at match point, wrapping up proceedings in one hour and ten minutes. A job well done, and Pimms all round.

Things are certainly looking promising for Murray. Indeed, he’s made the transition from clay to grass with ease, and with no Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in action, one could argue that Murray is the in-form player on grass as Wimbledon draws ever closer. A daunting prospect, yes, but one you feel he will take in his stride, such is the confidence that he exudes on court.

As Wimbledon approaches, the crowds at SW19 will undoubtedly have similar thoughts. All the talk may be of Federer and his quest to become the greatest of all time, and rightly so. A certain Scot is providing his own narrative, however, and it could prove to be fascinating.