[Aileen]

Following his somewhat self-induced mini marathon against big serving Marius Copil Murray now faces 21 year old Ugo Humbert who took three tight sets to see off world No. 20 Guido Pella, the match finishing at 12:20 am local time, having caused an upset in R2 by defeating the No. 2 seed and home favourite David Goffin comfortably in straight sets.

Humbert, currently ranked No. 70, but who has a career high of No. 46 achieved in July this year, holds four Challenger titles and reached the final in three other Challenger events.

At the 2018 US Open, Humbert made his Grand Slam singles debut as a qualifier. He won his first main draw match by defeating fellow qualifier Collin Altamirano. He then lost in the second round to Stan Wawrinka in four sets.

He won his first ATP 250 main draw match on home soil at the 2018 Moselle Open defeating Bernard Tomic in three sets.

Despite never having played on grass until this year, at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships Humbert reached the 4th round, defeating en route the No. 16 seed Gaël Monfils and the No. 19 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime only to lose to eventual and defending champion Novak Djokovic 3-6, 2-6, 3-6.

His YTD win/loss ratio is 38/26, with most of his wins being on hard courts or grass, and he is currently 8th in the Race to Milan, so will be very keen to consolidate that position or better it.

The winner of this match will meet either Stan Wawrinka or rising Italian star 18 year old Jannik Sinner in the final.

The match is scheduled for not before 5 pm local time, 4 pm BST.

[blueberryhill]

Thanks Aileen. Hoping Andy doesn't take the scenic route today.
C'mon Andy!   

[marathonarthur]

Thanks Aileen,

I note from Flashscores that the odds are for Andy so who am I to disagree?  I am just not sure about this one.  Andy looked quite fresh after his win yesterday but how he is this morning, he points out, is the crunch. Let us hope that all is quiet on the childbirth front for another few days so he can concentrate on the job in hand.

BBH is so right about how this is played by Andy.  Good that Humbert did the scenic route yesterday too so neither has come in with an easy match although the Frenchman is young so maybe not so affected?

So many things on today I will be struggling to watch it all. I am in the right place in Scotland! I also have past home football club Potters Bar playing in the FA Cup at lunchtime (BBC red button) against close-by Barnet !

[Elly]

Not sure if I’ll be able to watch but really hope he gets it done.  Interesting what FR said about wanting a longer match yesterday.  He did seem to play a bit inexplicably at one point. 

[Tamaragl]

I agree that Andy was probably okay with getting more pressure match time yesterday, though I don't think he lost that game serving for the match in the second set on purpose! Really think it was an attack of nerves. Can't help feeling that every match at this point is in some sense so new again for him that it brings lots of unexpected feelings.

[Fiverings]

Like Fiverings I too wondered if Andy had deliberately extended the match, but as we all know Andy hates losing, so tend to agree with Tamara on this one.

While I would like to see him win this match too, Wawrinka, who's played well all tournament, quickly saw off young Jannik Sinner in straight sets, and knowing what their previous matches have been like, I'm not sure if Andy would be up to playing him in the final.

  I honestly don't think he expected to lose, but was prepared to risk it in return for an extra set. I also agree that he probably doesn't feel quite ready yet to take on Wawrinka in a final. How he conducts this match will be very instructive. His eyes are definitely on a greater prize.

[Apollo]

Yay wins that rally 30 all

[Aileen]

  I honestly don't think he expected to lose, but was prepared to risk it in return for an extra set. I also agree that he probably doesn't feel quite ready yet to take on Wawrinka in a final. How he conducts this match will be very instructive. His eyes are definitely on a greater prize.

Well of course we'll never know, but it was his sudden blip that got me wondering.  On the other hand we have to remember that Andy is still trying to gain confidence so nervousness is bound to creep in from time to time.  Agree about today's match though.