MURRAY'S YEAR, PERHAPS.

And so Britain's interest in a major tennis tournament is again reduced to one man, Andy Murray.

It seems that Ann Keothavong simply ran out of steam after taking the first set in her match against Andrea Petkovic and we no longer have anyone left in the ladies' event. Murray, however, saw off the challenge of Illya Marchenko in straight sets and without raising much of a sweat - onwards and upwards for the Scots lad. 

Rafael Nadal made short work of his 2nd round opponent, Ryan Sweeting, and Robin Soderling beat Gilles Muller without too much trouble, but Roger Federer's star really seems to be on the wane. After taking the first 2 sets against the unseeded Giles Simon, the number 2 seed found himself pegged back to 2 sets all and was made to fight all the way in the last. This was the type of match that the Federer of old would have swept through, perhaps a hard fought first set followed by an increasingly dominant display and victory in 3. With Novak Djokovic also progressing easily, it's difficult to see Roger making it to the final; there are simply too many hungry, young cannibals in his way.

Now we're down to the last 32, and the pattern for the rest of the tournament has started to emerge. Rafa looks to have a relatively easy path to the semi-final, with only the heavy serving of John Isner or Marin Cilic to worry about, while his opponent at that stage could be any of several; Soderling, Murray Tsonga, Melzer, Baghdattis are all quite possible. At the other end, Roger should make it to the quarters where he'll expect to face Roddick, his compatriot Wawrinka or Monfils for a place in the last 4. Should he make it that far, he ought to find Djokovic waiting on the other side of the net, but it could also be Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych, or any of Gasquet, Verdasco, Almagro, Ljubicic or Troicki.

What will happen ? Perhaps this is to be Murray's year; he should make it passed his next 2 opponents and then it's likely to be Robin Soderling followed by Rafa. He might just do it, and come up against Novak Djokovic in the final, when the whole of the UK will glued to their sets, TV that is.