Wimbledon 2012

Wimbledon 2012: Andy Murray's brains can nullify brawn of Ivo Karlovic

If the No4 seed can lengthen the rallies and make the Croat move all around the court Murray will wear his opponent out and cut down on Karlovic's serving power
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Ivo Karlovic
Ivo Karlovic has an impressive serve but it will lose power if he is forced to work hard all over the court by Andy Murray. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images

1 Hold serve

The first thing Andy Murray must do, before even thinking about Ivo Karlovic's service bombs, is focus on his own serve. He'll want to win his service games as comfortably as possible, so he doesn't get the pressure of break points against him. If he holds serve easily, he can gamble more in his return games.

If I was Murray, I'd take a little speed off the first serve. His second serve isn't the quickest, which will allow Karlovic to chip and charge to the net. I'd go for a speed of around 120mph, rather than a big flat 135mph serve, and aim for a high first-serve percentage of around 70 to 75%. It's not about firing down the aces, because Karlovic isn't going to hit winning returns, he's just going to block the ball back and then Murray can dictate from the back of the court.

If Murray gives his opponent a lot of second serves, that's where he's going to get into trouble, because all of a sudden you see this beast coming to the net at 6ft 10in and it's very difficult to lob him or hit the passing shot.

2 Stay focused

Murray's concentration has to be there from the first ball to the last. It's the old cliche, but he has to stay in the process of one point at a time. Mentally, he has to be in a zone where he's ready to take that one opportunity on Karlovic's serve when it arises. That's where he's done well against the Croatian in the past, having edged through their three previous encounters, although their last match was back in 2008. If you don't capitalise on the break points, it's easy to get stuck into the tie-breaks, and you can then find yourself a set or two down.

3 Make Karlovic move

Murray wants to lengthen the rallies and tire out Karlovic from the baseline, because when a server's legs start to go, he doesn't get up for the serve as well. There's a definite strategy there: make him run, be clever with the angles and throw in a few drop shots, so he gets more and more tired. Then the serve dissipates as the match goes on.

4 Do his homework

This is where Ivan Lendl earns his money. Murray's coach must watch the videos and look at Karlovic's match stats, especially on grass. That's what the top teams do, they keep logs. Murray needs to know the patterns of where Karlovic likes to serve. His favourite serves are usually down the T on the deuce side and out wide on the ad court, and they're both very flat. Because of his height, he's one of the few players who's able to hit down on his serve, most players are taught to hit up on the ball.

Murray's going to have to take a few risks and pick some sides once in a while, but he has the benefit that his return is one of his biggest strengths. Once Murray gets the serve back he's in the driving seat, because Karlovic can't really hurt him from the back of the court, where you'd favour Murray in nine out of 10 points.

Murray would also do well to mix up his positions on the return of serve. If he stands further back or closer in, then Karlovic won't get the same visual on his serve, and that can be distracting. He has to use little ploys like that.

5 Use home advantage

It's vital Murray feeds off the crowd. You look at his first-round match against Nikolay Davydenko, a player who hates the grass, in many ways it was the perfect draw. Now it's the complete opposite, playing the guy nobody wanted to meet in the second round. He's got to use the crowd's energy to put pressure on Karlovic, who won't be easily fazed out there, as he showed when he upset Lleyton Hewitt as the defending champion in the first round on Centre Court in 2003. An early break would be ideal to get the fans on Karlovic's back.

The Croatian is quite a character, he's fairly relaxed and he beats his own drum on court. He'll be out there with his sunglasses, cap and his size 16 shoes. I think he'll enjoy the experience, because it's a no-lose situation for him, all the pressure and expectation is on Murray. That said, I expect Murray to come out on top.

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