Andy Murray cruises into Wimbledon quarter-finals and then turns to Sir Alex Ferguson for advice

Andy Murray revealed on Monday night that he had enjoyed a post-match conversation with Sir Alex Ferguson about “a few things he’s observed when he’s been watching me – not necessarily technical or tactical things, more sort of mental things, how you respond to tough or tight situations”.

One can only assume that Ferguson was offering positive feedback. Murray does not, on the face of things, seem to have come up against much adversity at Wimbledon. this year, having romped into the quarter-finals without dropping a set. And yet he could so easily have lost his cool, especially when the weather took an unforeseen hand.

In the end, the way Murray adapted to the unexpected – a quality that Ferguson, with his gift for inspiring late surges, is justly renowned for – was the most impressive aspect of his 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 victory against Kevin Anderson.

This was a match that could so easily have become a man-trap when rain forced the players off the court early in the second set. The timing could not have been better for Anderson, who might as well have been a trussed-up turkey headed for the butcher’s knife when the conditions changed from a barely tangible mizzle to a proper downpour.

At 3-0 down in the second set, he had been broken three times in seven attempts, which was not the sort of ratio he would have expected from his armour-piercing 134mph serve. Murray was cruising, frankly, and pulling off the sort of crazy touch shots that you might expect to see in an exhibition match.

Source telegraph.co.uk