Wimbledon 2015: Tim Henman says Andy Murray has nothing to fear from Karlovic

Big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic may be on course for a record number of aces at a single Wimbledon championships but Andy Murray has nothing to fear today, according to former British No1 Tim Henman.

 

Read more: Murray leads British charge

 

Karlovic, who stands at 6ft 11in, has served more aces than any other player in tennis history and racked up his 136th of this year's tournament while dispatching 13th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round on Saturday.

 

Victory set up the last-16 clash with two-time grand slam winner and 2013 Wimbledon champion Murray, who is bidding to reach an eighth successive quarter-final at the All England Club.

 

Third seed Murray has a flawless record against Karlovic having won all of their previous five meetings, and Henman insists that the Scot once again has the artillery to nullify the serving bombardment heading his way.

 

"We saw with how Andy dealt with Kevin Anderson in the final at Queen's that he can cope with big servers who are in form," said former world No4 Henman.

 

"That's one of Andy's greatest attributes, how well he's able to return serve and get the ball back in play. And against a big server you're not trying to hit return winners, you're trying to get the ball back in play so that you can use your other weapons.

 

"Once they get into a rally, if Andy neutralises a big serve he's going to win seven-and-a-half out of 10 points. He will be well aware of what he needs to do to neutralise that kind of weapon." 

 

Karlovic shrugged off career-threatening viral meningitis two years ago and has risen the rankings to world No25, and at the age of 36 is the oldest man to reach the second week of Wimbledon since 1976.

 

The winner will face either Canada's Vasek Pospisil or Viktor Troicki of Serbia in the last eight, although Murray's immediate focus remains fixed on Karlovic, who set a record of 45 aces for a three-set ATP Tour match at Halle last month.

 

"Obviously he has served extremely well this tournament," said Murray. "I'll need to be very sharp on my returns and try and find a way to get as many of his serves back in play as possible."

■ S. Williams [1] v V. Williams [16]

 

■ Karlovic [26] v Murray [3]

 

■ Bautista Agut [20] v Federer [2]

 

■ Sharapova [4] v Diyas

 

■ Wawrinka [4] v Goffin [16]

 

■ Djokovic [1] v Anderson [14]