It has been a long Wimbledon drought for British tennis, the last English entrant to win the event being Fred Perry in 1936. Andy Murray, the world's fourth ranked player, is hoping to end the extended dry spell this year, but he must beat Croatian Ivan Ljubicic in order to do so. The two competitors are schedueld to meet at 7:00 AM ET tomorrow morning. Sports Betting Odds have Murray listed as a -1800 moneyline favorite in the third round match.
Andy Murray, who is looking 
to advance to the fourth round at Wimbledon for a third consecutive year, let his nerves get the better of him in his first match of the week. Murray unexpectedly dropped his first set of the tournament 4-6 to Daniel Gimeno-Traver before going on to beat the 59th ranked Spaniard 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 in the final three sets.
Murray carried the momentum on those closing frames into Wednesday's match with Tobias Kamke as he defeated the German in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 7-5. The Dunblane native hit one more unforced error (19) and one fewer winner (23) than Kamke, but he dominated the service game, winning 84 percent of the time on his first serve compared to Kamke's 69 percent.
Murray will need to perform better than that to get by Ljubicic, though, a player he has lost to three times in six meetings. The 33rd ranked Croatian upset fellow countryman Marin Cilic 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round before putting away Ukrainian born Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
The 6'4" Ljubicic hit 10 aces and 36 winners against Stakhovsky to advance to the third round at Wimbledon for the third time in his career. Ljubicic, who played in the semifinals at the 2006 French Open, has never participated in a fourth round match at the All England Club.
Murray and Ljubicic last squared off in the quarterfinals of the China Open last October. Ljubicic won the match 6-3, 6-2 to halt Murray's win streak against him at two.
2011 Wimbledon Odds Andy Murray vs Ivan Ljubicic Predictions:
Andy Murray -1800
Ivan Ljubicic +750
