Murray's magic answers hecklers

London: Andy Murray was just about to serve for the first time when the dreaded cry reverberated within the Centre Court fish bowl. "C'mon Tim!" came the salute from someone who evidently fancied he was Oscar Wilde.

Around the oh so amusing heckler, a few patrons, knowing how much Murray gets irritated by this mouldy old chestnut, evidently scolded his Henmaniac tormentor.

Yet if the Scot heard, he did well to hide his disdain. Bang! An ace immediately followed with the first shot of the match, sending Ivan Ljubicic sprawling in a vain attempt to retrieve it, and Britain's last man standing at this Wimbledon was on his way in this tight, engrossing third-round clash.

One service game later, some other wag decided to have a go. Whether it was meant to distract Murray, only the perpetrator knew but again the response was truly emphatic. Thud! Another ace.

Here was evidence, if it was ever needed, that the Scot was now far too professional to be distracted by any would-be comedians during his late-night shows. This riposte was a perfect put down for any heckler.

By the middle of the first fiercely contested set, even the vast majority of the crowd, all supporting Murray rather than Henman, had clearly had enough of the stupid brigade. "Oh, shut up!" one shouted, in response to yet another tedious rendition of the same old cry. Applause greeted this response.

True test

Murray needed all the help he could get here in his first true test of the tournament as he found himself locked in another late-night thriller, the sort he is patenting here as the only player now to have played not just twice but thrice under the Centre Court roof, against the streetwise Croat who was once third in the world.

Ljubicic is getting on in tennis terms now; at 32, he has lost a bit of his fleet-footedness which once carried him to a place among the best three players on the planet but he still looked hugely dangerous, with his old mighty serve and sweet single-handed backhand in fine working order, as he hit back to take the second set 6-4, after Murray took the opener by the same score.

Here was another first Friday at Wimbledon and another lonely boy impression from Murray.

Once Laura Robson, courageously against Maria Sharapova, and Elena Baltacha, w ith just the hint of a choke against Shuai Peng, had departed, it was once again down to the Scot, as he has for the past three years, to be the last Brit standing before the opening weekend.

Irritation

It was on the eve of the match that Murray had chosen to publicly reveal his irritation at the "C'mon Tim" cries. This seemed fair enough. After all, we first heard this joke in 2008 at the first post-Henman Wimbledon when the young Scot was doing his utmost to emulate Middle England's hero by reaching the quarter-finals.

It was mildly amusing the first time but, two semi-finals later, it has rapidly become about as funny as toothache. Not to those inside Centre Court, though. Every time some wag pipes up with the crack we end up with an audience guffawing uncontrollably. Perhaps until last night.

Evidently, it had got on Murray's nerves something rotten. "It is a classic, that one. It is hilarious and it happens every match, three or four times," he said, voice dripping with irony. "And I don't find it particularly amusing."

Even though a lot of us would have sympathy for Murray on this score, you could not help feeling this was a seriously bad idea, bringing up a pet hate which seemed guaranteed to just offer a few more feeble-minded show-offs the chance to wind him up.

They tried, but Murray's tennis did the talking.

Results from the fifth day of Wimbledon on Friday (x denotes seeding):

Men 2nd rd: David Ferrer (ESP x7) bt Ryan Harrison (USA) 6-7 (6/8), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Bernard Tomic (AUS) bt Igor Andreev (RUS) 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1; Jurgen Melzer (AUT x11) bt Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/1)

3rd rd: Andy Murray (GBR x4) bt Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 6-4, 4-6, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4); Richard Gasquet (FRA x17) bt Simone Bolelli (ITA) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; Feliciano Lopez (ESP) bt Andy Roddick (USA x8) 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/2), 6-4

Women 2nd rd: Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x1) bt Virginie Razzano (FRA) 6-1, 6-3; Peng Shuai (CHN x20) bt Elena Baltacha (GBR) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5; Maria Sharapova (RUS x5) bt Laura Robson (GBR) 7-6 (7/4), 6-3; Marion Bartoli (FRA x9) bt Lourdes Dommnguez (ESP) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2

3rd rd: Ksenia Pervak (RUS) bt Andrea Petkovic (GER x11) 6-4, 7-6 (7/2); Nadia Petrova (RUS) bt Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 6-3, 6-2; Victoria Azarenka (BLR x4) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK x25) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2; Petra Kvitova (CZE x8) bt Roberta Vinci (ITA x29) 6-3, 6-3; Yanina Wickmayer (BEL x19) bt Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x12) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Venus Williams (USA x23) bt Maria Jose Martinez (ESP) 6-0, 6-2; Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL x32) bt Vera Zvonareva (RUS x2) 6-2, 6-3

— The Telegraph