Serb aims to attack Murray (From Campaign Series)

Serb aims to attack Murray

11:10pm Thursday 28th May 2009

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SERBIAN extrovert Janko Tipsarevic reckons he will be "eaten alive’’ by Andy Murray at the French Open tomorrow if he does not follow his natural instincts and go on the attack against the British number one.

The erudite Tipsarevic, 24, has gone from being from a literature buff to a video game addict as he looks to fill in the hours in what he describes as sometimes a "really boring’’ existence as a lower-ranked tennis player.

'World of Warcraft' is his latest craze off the court, but he could come under fire on it tomorrow if Murray finds his form in the third round at Roland Garros.

Tipsarevic, the world number 65, has always had close battles against the Scot - they have met four times before, each winning twice, and on neither occasion has the winner run away with it.

But with both players bidding to make the fourth round here for the first time, the naturally attacking Serb is adamant he cannot afford to sit back and allow Murray to dictate the points.

"Psychologically, when I play against a top player, in my head something is telling me that if I go back and stop doing what I know best, which is attack, he's going to eat me alive,’’ said Tipsarevic, who has one arm tattooed with a quote from 'The Idiot' by Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

"On the other hand, when I play against a medium-ranked player, like myself, sometimes I start thinking an average game would be enough.

"Instead of going forward, I'm starting to go backwards for some reason. In the past few years, when I play against top guys, I'm mainly brave. I have enough years on tour not to be afraid of a top-10 player.’’ Murray is certainly one of those, but he did not play like it for large parts of his second-round win over Italy's Potito Starace, the world number 104.

The third seed lost 11 out of 13 games during a mid-match slump as baseliner Starace picked up his game, forcing Murray way back behind the baseline.

Murray claimed a 6-3 2-6 7-5 6-4 win on Philippe Chatrier court but it was a far cry from his straight-sets thrashing of Juan Ignacio Chela in round one.

It has fuelled Tipsarevic's belief, not that he needed it, that he could cause an upset tomorrow.

"I've beaten him two times so being scared of him would be pretty stupid,’’ added Tipsarevic, who wears sunglasses on court whatever the weather and conditions.

"I'm the underdog, I don't have anything to lose. He's probably the best defender on tour but I'll rely on the fact he's still, in my opinion, not 100% comfortable on clay.

"My idea will be to move him as much as possible. He moves really well on hard courts but on clay courts he still needs to use the slide a little bit more.’’ Both players admit maintaining their concentration, a key attribute on clay because of the longer rallies on the surface, could be decisive.

"Sometimes it happens that I lose focus and I'm not on the court for three or four games - I'm somewhere up in the clouds and I suddenly wake up and start playing again,’’ said Tipsarevic, the conqueror of 28th seed Feliciano Lopez in round two.

"I'm feeling good now so hopefully this isn't going to happen.’’ Murray said: "On hard courts, when you are ahead you can just keep serving well and finish the points quickly.

"On clay, there's always time for you to get back into the match and find your game, even if you are struggling.

"That one of the things someone like (Rafael) Nadal does well.’’

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