Murray happy to let others get excited

Andy Murray thrills fans during his third round win over Serbia's Viktor Troicki In case you haven’t noticed, Andy Murray is through to the fourth round of Wimbledon. That means he has won three games of the seven he needs to become Wimbledon champion. That means he is into the second week of The Championships. That means, if you are British, especially a member of the British media, you can get as excited as you want. Just don’t expect the level-headed Murray to join in that excitement with so much of the job still to be done. As he explained at the press conference following his romp to victory over Viktor Troicki: “The expectation for me is I'm going to try my best to win the tournament. But it's the people that are in the media, in the press, and the people that read it who are the ones that see the expectation getting bigger or greater. “It's just one of those things you have to get used to dealing with. It hasn't troubled me this week. I'd be very surprised if it did next week." Murray’s opponent on Monday is Stanislas Wawrinka, the 19th seed. Murray leads 4-3 in head-to-head encounters, but since 2008 that record is a more lop-sided 4-1 in Murray’s favour. The pair have never met on grass. Wawrinka is also a regular practice partner of Murray’s. However, the Scot said that will not change his approach to the match. “I think when you go on the court you're there to compete, regardless of whether you're friends or not. It doesn't change the way you go into the match,” Murray said. “You kind of know each other's games a little bit better than you might know some of the others that you don't hit with and you don't see around that much. But won't make a difference on Monday, I don't think. “He's a very solid all court player. He's got a solid serve. He moves well, is good off the baseline. He doesn't come to the net too much. But when he does, I mean, he won the Olympic gold doubles, so he can obviously volley reasonably well. “He does everything good. He doesn't have one shot in particular that's a huge weakness. I'm going to have to play a tough match to beat him.” When asked to rate his performance over the first week, Murray said his performances were “pretty solid” and he was “very happy” that he had won his three matches. He added he was “slightly more comfortable this year than last year”. His philosophy is a simple one, but if it pays off it will bring huge rewards. “It's just about winning the matches. I don't feel any different to how I did at this stage last year. You just try and win a match every couple of days, and that's really the goal. I don't think anything different.”

Superb Murray wastes no time in win

Viktor Troicki reaches for a volley during his third round defeat by Britain's Andy Murray. Andy Murray's Wimbledon bandwagon gathered massive momentum as he cruised into the last 16 by crushing Serbia's Viktor Troicki 6-2 6-3 6-4 in 96 minutes. Just as he did in his second round victory over Ernests Gulbis, Murray established immediate ascendancy over the 23-year-old Troicki and rapidly stepped that up to crushing superiority. Troicki, who had suffered two embarrassing defeats previously at the hands of Murray, made his Centre Court debut clearly with the intention of blasting the Scot off the court where he has so far been so comfortable. If the Serb's first serve failed, the second one was also an attempt at a blaster. It was a tactic which brought inevitable double faults, two of which led to a service break which put Murray 4-2 ahead in the first set. Murray cannily also refused to offer Troicki any pace off which he could feed, which further confused the Serb. This, combined with Murray's superior court craft, made for a one-sided match which was only extended by Murray's occasional, and understandable, inclination to indulge in a spot of showboating to offer the Centre Court their money's worth. The danger here was that the hovering clouds might unleash the contents before the job was complete, forcing the closing of the roof with its inevitable long delay. It was a close-run thing as Trocki fought back bravely in the third set but, as the ground staff gathered at courtside Murray finished the job in brilliantly professional style. Having gone one set up in 27 minutes, Murray cleaned up the second one in exactly half an hour. At times Troicki glanced towards the skies. Whether he was looking for heavenly assistance or the intervention of the weather was unclear - perhaps it was both. But on this evening there was nothing that could save him from a hammering. The harder he tried the more errors he made and when he attempted to match Murray for subtlety he was even more outclassed. Murray went 5-2 ahead in the second set by delivering three successive aces, followed by a delicate drop shot and closed out the set with his 12th ace. But he saved his greatest moments for the sixth game of the final set. Leading 3-2, Murray started with an inch-perfect drop shot, followed it with an ace, then executed an unbelievable cross-court winner with his back to the net and won perhaps the most glorious game he had ever played with a cross-court forehand. You could have forgiven Troicki if he had burst into tears at the frustration of opposing this sort of stuff. After that, the end was not long in coming as Murray wrapped it up with another brace of aces, 17 in all. Next up for Murray on Monday is Stanislas Wawrinka, the 19th seed. Between now and then, expect all the talk, hype and expectation about Britain gaining their first Wimbledon men's champion since Fred Perry 73 years ago to reach new levels. Centre Court - Gentlemen's Singles - 3rd Round Andy Murray GBR (3) 6 6 6 Viktor Troicki SRB (30) 2 3 4

Murray ready for Saturday showdown

Andy Murray will step on to Centre Court tomorrow with the famous Wimbledon hill cheering him on every step of the way.

Murray faces Viktor Troicki from Serbia in his third-round match, an opponent he grew up with as a junior and who remembers Murray as 'the tops'.

It could hardly be a more daunting prospect for Troicki, who is expecting the encounter to have the fervour of a Davis Cup tie.

Troicki admitted: "Even in juniors he was always the top and he has improved so much in the last year. He's playing great. He's one of the favourites to win it.

"I need to play aggressive, play smart, give my best and hope that I can play my best tennis. I need to believe I can win these matches against the top players."

The statistics are not on Troicki's side. In two matches against Murray on the ATP tour, Troicki has failed to win a set, winning just one game in their last encounter.

It gets even better for Murray when you consider Troicki has never played on Centre Court and Murray looks increasingly at home in the game's most prestigious arena.

There is every chance Troicki could freeze on his big day, just like Murray's previous opponent, Latvia's Ernests Gulbis, appeared to do in the second round.

"I will try to block it out," said Troicki, anticipating a passionate atmosphere on Centre Court.

"I will need some time to get used to the court and the atmosphere around Centre Court and then I will see how the crowd is reacting. I just hope that I'm going to play well.

"It's going to be maybe like a Davis Cup because he's playing at home and all the crowd is going to cheer for him. But that's tennis and you've got to play it like it is.

"It's going to be a great experience. I'm going to give my best and try to win."

Murray practised for an hour today on Wimbledon's practice courts with coach Miles Maclagan and his fitness trainers Matty Little and Jez Green, the team which has done so much this past 18 months to improve his physique.

The first week so far could not have gone better for Murray. He was given a wake-up call when losing a set in a lethargic first-round display against America's Robert Kendrick.

He stepped up a gear against Gulbis, a talented 20-year-old and a dangerous opponent and revealed he had received a good luck note from the Queen.

And while Roger Federer says any talk of a Federer-Murray final before the first week is out is "premature", if Murray comes through as expected against Troicki then there is no doubt that will be the buzz into next week.

The absence of Rafael Nadal through injury has given Federer a slight advantage in that by switching the Swiss star to a Monday start to kick off the tournament Wimbledon chiefs also handed him a two-day weekend rest.

By contrast Murray will get just Sunday off. But if he does the job against Troicki as expected then that should hardly be a consideration.