WIMBLEDON, England // With the help of an audacious between-the-legs trick shot, Andy Murray once again heads into the second week of Wimbledon carrying the hopes of a nation for a first homegrown men's champion in 75 years.
The fourth-seeded Murray advanced to the fourth round by defeating Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) in a match that ended at nearly 10 pm Friday under the roof on Centre Court.
Rather than Murray's big serve or two-handed backhand, the talk was all about the shot he pulled off in the seventh game of the fourth set.
After Ljubicic hit a short ball, Murray strolled forward toward the service line, hopped in the air, took his racket behind his back and casually flicked a shot through his legs. It floated over the net and landed in for a cross-court winner.
It was similar to a shot Murray hit during his victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final of the Queen's Club grass-court tournament on June 13.
"It's just one of those things that you're just in the right position," Murray said. "I tried it at Queen's and I tried it a couple of times in practice since. I haven't missed one yet. You look like a (fool) when you do, so I'm glad I made it.
"It's one of those shots that you don't get a chance to try them very often and, luckily, I've pulled it off a couple times the last few weeks."
Murray served for the match at 5-3 in the fourth set but couldn't convert, hitting an errant forehand on the second break point. But Murray took advantage of errors by the 32-year-old Croatian - the oldest man in the third round - in the tiebreaker and ended the match by following up a big first serve with a forehand putaway.
"I felt like I played very good tennis from the back of the court tonight," he said. "I just needed to serve better. And I returned pretty well and I moved really good. So that's a step in the right direction. It was much better than my last match."
Murray now has the weekend off until a fourth-round matchup against 17th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who beat Simone Bolelli in straight sets. Murray and Gasquet have split their four previous matches, with Murray coming from two sets down to win at Wimbledon in 2008 but the Frenchman winning the last two.
The weight of expectations will only increase on Murray, who has reached the semifinals the last two years. The British public is fervently hoping he will break the curse and become the first homegrown men's winner since Fred Perry in 1936.
"It's still very intense," Murray said of the pressure.
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