Murray primed to heap further anguish on star-crossed Haas

Andy Murray is scheduled to face Tommy Haas in the third round here this afternoon, but anyone with tickets would be advised to be in their seats by the time the match starts. Turn up late and you might not see a ball struck. Come to think of it, arrive early and you still might not see anything.

The problem is not so much the unpredictable weather as the fact that Murray is playing the unluckiest man in tennis. Perhaps not surprisingly for someone who says that 13 is his lucky number, Haas has been the victim of mishaps, injuries and misfortune throughout his career, with some of his unluckiest breaks coming at Wimbledon. The 30-year-old German missed the whole tournament in 2002 and 2003 and has twice had to retire in the middle of matches, through food poisoning and then through injury after treading on a ball in the warm-up.

Even when everything seemed to come right last year, trouble was around the corner. Having reached the fourth round for the first time, Haas was due to play Roger Federer in his first match on Centre Court since beating Andre Agassi in 1998 – but he was forced to withdraw with a stomach injury.

"I thought about staying around and just maybe walking out on Centre Court," Haas said as he recalled last year's misfortune. "I just really want to play on Centre Court."

Murray suffered his own angst here 12 months ago, when his desperate efforts to recover from a wrist injury ended in his withdrawal on the eve of the tournament, but the 21-year-old Scot has been enjoying every moment of his return to the All England Club. He has not dropped a set in beating Fabrice Santoro and Xavier Malisse in the first two rounds.

This is Murray's first Wimbledon since joining forces with Miles Maclagan, who succeeded Brad Gilbert as his coach last year. In contrast to the garrulous Gilbert, Maclagan is a softly spoken individual who shuns the limelight. Asked yesterday if Murray had been making a conscious effort not to direct his anger at his entourage during matches, having regularly shouted in Gilbert's direction, Maclagan said: "I think Andy knows that's not the most efficient way to spend his energy."

Maclagan said he had quickly appreciated Murray's work ethic. "My first impressions at the December training camp we did last year were that he's a very hard worker," he said. "He did three and a half weeks of hard physical work, day in and day out. There was no moaning, no excuses, no injuries. My first impression was: 'Jeez, this guy is tough.'

"Being here at Wimbledon is the icing on the cake. What people don't see is the hard work he puts in on the cold winter nights out on the track when the wind's howling down the back straight, or out on the practice courts when he's hitting his serves in the cold and the wind."

Few players have a greater appetite for hard work than Haas, who is now No 38 in the rankings but was world No 2 six years ago and has won 11 titles and nearly $9m (£4.5m) in prize-money. His record in 36 Grand Slam appearances is solid but unspectacular, with three Australian Open semi-finals and three US Open quarter-finals the highlights.

Throughout his career the 6ft 2in German has had to fight back from injury. He broke his right ankle in 1995 and his left ankle the following year and from October 2002 was out of the game for 16 months after two shoulder operations. Further surgery was necessary last year, when misfortune even dogged him in the Davis Cup. In September he was taken ill during Germany's semi-final defeat by Russia in Moscow and underwent hair and blood tests after allegations (which proved to be unfounded) that he had been poisoned.

Haas, nevertheless, is not one to dwell on his problems. "I've achieved more dreams than I ever thought possible after the operations," he said. "Having another at the end of last year really didn't help. I'm not the youngest guy out there, but I love the game of tennis. I love to compete."

He has met Murray twice, on both occasions at Indian Wells. Murray won in the final set last year and Haas reversed the result three months ago during what has proved to be his best run of the year. He arrived at the All England Club having won only one match since March, with Indian Wells the only tournament in which he had gone beyond the second round. Even in California the Haas jinx struck again: after beating Murray, he had to pull out of his quarter-final against Federer because of a heavy cold.

Nevertheless, two good wins here suggest that he is over his latest shoulder trouble, which forced him to miss the French Open. He beat Guillermo Canas in four sets in the first round and brushed aside Tommy Robredo, the world No 19, in straight sets in the second. Murray will not be underestimating Haas. "He's a really tough player," the world No 11 said. "He's solid off both sides, serves well, volleys well, moves well. He doesn't have too many weaknesses. It's obviously going to be tricky, but if I serve like I did in my first couple of matches and put as many returns in the court as I did, then I'm going to have chances to break serve and put a lot of pressure on him."

Recalling his defeat at Indian Wells this year, Murray said: "I didn't play particularly well after the first set. I lost my concentration in the second. He played well. Against someone that solid you have to stay focused for the whole match."

Playing on grass should be to Murray's advantage. Asked where he thought Murray might have most success, Maclagan said: "He's comfortable on hard courts. The grass season is very short, so I'm not sure that anyone – apart maybe from Roger Federer – can say they're totally comfortable on grass. But I think over time, whether it's this year or other years, Andy will have great memories of playing here. I wouldn't be surprised if grass became his favourite surface."

Murray has looked in relaxed mood and said he had not been feeling any weight of expectation on his shoulders, this being the first Wimbledon he has played since Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski retired.

Asked if it felt strange to be the centre of British attention, Murray said: "It did a couple of years ago because that was when it all started. It's almost a good thing I learnt to get used to it when Tim and Greg were around. Now I'm obviously a bit more used to it, having had a bit more experience with everything."

Having his own London flat to return to in the evenings helps, as does his new pet dog, a 12-week-old border terrier called Maggie (named after Rod Stewart's "Maggie May", a favourite song).

"I prefer big dogs, but it's a bit hard to take a big dog around with you," Murray said. "I've always loved dogs, but never really had the chance to have my own one. Now I'm in a position where I'm able to do that and I'm enjoying it."

Haas’ Wimbledon woes

*2001 Retires in fourth set of first-round match against Wayne Black after suffering food poisoning, having eaten broccoli and cheese before going on court.

*2002 Misses Wimbledon after his parents are seriously hurt in a motorcycle accident in Florida.

*2003 Misses Wimbledon after shoulder operation.

*2005 Retires during second set of first-round match against Janko Tipsarevic, having injured his ankle after treading on a ball during the warm-up.

*2007 Abdominal injury forces him to pull out of tournament before fourth-round match against Roger Federer, having been scheduled to play on Centre Court for only the second time in his career.

Interesting? Click here to explore further