Whether the Scot will be able to slide around the clay with anything like his usual freedom and confidence, so giving himself every opportunity of beating the world No15 from Serbia, remains rather more uncertain.
Murray, who damaged his right ankle while running to reach a drop-shot from Germany’s Michael Berrer on Saturday afternoon, was able to have a light practice session yesterday, in addition to being treated by a tournament doctor. Since Murray’s encounter with Troicki has been scheduled as the third match of the day on Court Suzanne Lenglen, he would have had around 48 hours of rest and recuperation before playing the Eastern European for a place in the quarter-finals.
Troicki, the second best Serbian tennis player after Novak Djokovic, has had food poisoning during the tournament, though it is not believed there is any danger he will be too weak to play Murray.
A commentator remarked on French television over the weekend that Murray has what amounts to “a virtual boulevard” through the tournament towards a semi-final against Rafael Nadal, though whether the fourth seed’s draw is kind or not hardly matters when there are concerns about his fitness.
If Murray is to beat Troicki, he will need to move around the court with much greater freedom than he did against Berrer. For the best part of two sets, he was inconvenienced by the injury, though he got away with it because he was striking some brilliant winners, and because Berrer felt sorry for his opponent and so did not play with the ruthlessness that he should have done. Troicki is unlikely to be so accommodating.
Without Troicki’s influence, this season could have turned out very differently. If he had lost the decisive fifth rubber of last December’s Davis Cup final against France, it is doubtful Djokovic would have launched himself at this season with such gusto.
Though no one has benefited as much from Troicki’s victory over Michaël Llodra in Belgrade as Djokovic, the Serbian No?2 is plainly a more assured presence on a tennis court now than he ever was before. He started this tournament at a career-high ranking and this is the first time he has made the last 16 of a slam.
Murray has beaten Troicki in straight sets in their three previous meetings, including in the third round of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. However, this will be the first time they have played on clay, as well as the first time they have played when Murray has a sore ankle.
This has been the second medical drama of Murray’s clay-court season as at last month’s tournament in Monaco he required a cortisone injection into his elbow before losing his semi-final against Nadal.
If Murray beats Troicki, he will play either Juan Ignacio Chela, an Argentine ranked 34, or Alejandro Falla, a Colombian qualifier ranked 120 who is best known for having scared the heebie-jeebies out of Roger Federer in the first round of last summer’s Wimbledon. There was nothing frightening for Federer about his all-Swiss fourth-round match with Stanislas Wawrinka here, and he beat his friend 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. There were some fine shots from Federer, especially on the backhand wing. “Honestly,” said Federer, who has reached the quarter-finals without dropping a set, “I can’t believe how good my backhand has become.”
The brilliance of Djokovic’s tennis was such that he took all the tension out of the air on Court Philippe Chatrier, with his 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Frenchman Richard Gasquet extending his undefeated run to 43 matches, 41 of them this year.
Should Djokovic beat Italian Fabio Fognini, who won a 11-9 fifth set against Spaniard Albert Montanes, he would put himself level with John McEnroe’s record for the best start to a year, the 42-match run he assembled in 1984.
Vera Zvonareva’s defeat to fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova meant the top three women’s seeds have all failed to make the quarter-finals, as the departure of the world No3 followed that of Kim Clijsters, the Belgian world No2, who was eliminated in the second round, and Caroline Wozniacki, the Danish world No?1, who lost in the third round.
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