By Niall Clarke
- Andy Murray and James Ward will play their third round matches on Saturday
- Murray faces Andreas Seppi
- Ward will face Vasek Pospisil
LONDON, UK- Andy Murray and James ward will continue flying the British flag when they step on to court for their round three matches on Saturday.
Murray, 28, will play Italian Andreas Seppi whom he has won the past six meetings against, including at the Davis Cup last year. Seppi won their first match in Nottingham nine years ago, but since then the Brit has not dropped a set against his quarter final opponent.
In the previous round Murray dispatched of Robin Haase easily in straight sets 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 in an hour and thirty minutes. The third seed barely got out of first gear as his Dutch opponent sprayed errors all over the court. It was an easy victory for Murray who will be well rested for this third round encounter.
Seppi had to work a lot harder to defeat young sensation Borna Coric in his second round encounter. The 25th seed came from two sets to one down to defeat the Croatian 4-6, 6-4, (3)6-7, 6-1, 6-1 in just a little over three and a half hours.
It also should be noted that the Italian ended one British hope in the first round. Brydan Klein was outclassed by Seppi in three sets on the second day of the tournament.
However this is a far bigger challenge for the 31 year old. He faces a player in Murray he has not beaten in nine years. The Brit should be the big favourite for this match, and will be expected to secure a place in round four. But Seppi Is a solid player who does not give much away, so Murray will certainly have to work for it.
Ward faces a much different challenge to Murray. The British number four will face big serving Vasek Pospisil of Canada in his third round match.
The Brit needed four sets to defeat world number 45 Jiri Vesely 6-2, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3 in his second round match on Thursday. Ward managed to spend not a huge amount of time on court with this one lasting a little over two hours and 40 minutes.
It was a landmark win for the Londoner who will play his first grand slam round three contest on Saturday. Ward will also be ranked inside the world’s top 100 for the first time when the new rankings come out.
Pospisil also required four sets to defeat his second round opponent Fabio Fognini. The Canadian put on a good display to overpower his opponent 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
The 25 year old has been as high as 25 in the world, but injuries halted his progress and thus he has fallen to a ranking of 56. It is still however 55 places ahead of Ward- at least until the new rankings come out.
It is another difficult task for Ward, and it is a different one too. Unlike Luca Vanni and Vesely, Pospisil brings a big serve, powerful ground strokes and likes to come to the net. He has also been higher ranked than any of the Brit’s previous opponents.
Murray is last on centre court, whilst Ward is second on court one. If you cannot reach a telly, you can follow the action on our live scoring service:
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