Wimbledon 2011: Andy Murray v Feliciano Lopez

Andy Murray’s Wimbledon campaign continues this afternoon as he takes on Feliciano Lopez looking to secure a semi-final spot.

The British No.1 will have the centre court crowd firmly behind him once again as aims to continue the good form he has shown so far in this year’s tournament.

Murray has progressed nicely in each round with regards to his performance. He was forced to work hard in the early round but showed flashes of brilliance and got the job done.

Then, in his fourth round match with Richard Gasquet, he brushed aside his opponent in an extremely destructive manner. The straight sets victory was achieved in the blistering heat too, so it was a massive bonus to get the match finished quickly.

Had Murray been put through five sets in the heat, he would have been much more drained ahead of his quarter-final clash. As it is though, he should be fresh and ready to go again.

The Scotsman will hope to continue his trend of progression in this tournament too. Each round he has had to raise his game and he will want to do that again.

Lopez can be a very dangerous player after all. He defeated Andy Roddick earlier in the tournament and was Tim Henman’s nemesis back in 2007.

Murray’s task against Gasquet was made much easier as the Frenchman was far from at his best and looked beaten from the first game. You get the feeling this won’t be the case with Lopez.

The Spaniard has a renewed mental focus on the tennis court, putting aside his popularity away from tennis due to his admired looks and physique.

The start of his resurgence seems to have been victory over Rafael Nadal at Queens last year, a moment that appears to have reminded him of what he can achieve when in the right frame of mind.

Don’t expect him to give up when things are going against him either. As mentioned, Gasquet was a beaten man by the time the third set came around against Murray, Lopez will not be.

This was proved by his victory against Lukasz Kubot from two sets down in the last round.

This is a man that is never beaten as he backs his fitness and determination to ensure he will keep going until the very last shot.

Murray is of course favourite to progress, but Lopez cannot be dismissed as he looks to make it to a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time in his career.

Brace yourselves Murray fans, this one could go all of the way.