Andy Murray, the world No 2, is preparing for a step up in class when he plays Croatian Marin Cilic for a place in the US Open quarter-finals.
Murray brushed aside American wild-card Taylor Dent in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, wrapping up Sunday night's match at Arthur Ashe Stadium in 90 minutes to reach the last 16 of the final grand slam of the year.
Cilic, however - who was a 6-1, 6-4 6-3 winner over Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin - will prove an altogether tougher opponent than Dent, the world No 195. "He's tough, he's top 20, got a big serve," Murray said of 20-year-old Cilic, whom he has beaten in each of their previous three meetings, most recently in straight sets in the round of 16 at the French Open.
"It's kind of similar to [first-round opponent Ernests] Gulbis, just a lot more solid.
"I'll have to make sure I return well against him, because he's got a good serve and be solid from the back of the court.
"I'm not going to get as many free points on my own serve, because he returns a bit better than Taylor.
"It's going to be a tough match."
If Murray maintains the prodigious return of service he deployed against Dent, Cilic could be in for a rough ride.
The Scot nonetheless warns different opponents require different types of return.
"A lot of it depends," said the 22-year-old. "Against someone like [Dent], Cilic is taller and his serve comes up a lot higher - and he's not serving and volleying.
"You really want to get the ball back in play against him, because even if you hit a really clean return against a guy that's not serving and volleying they can dictate the point.
"Someone like Taylor has a low ball toss and his serve comes through a lot lower.
"You need to make sure you hit a good return, because he's coming into the net. You can't leave the ball high and you can't block the returns.
"That's really the most important thing - return differently against every player. I don't think you can return the same way against everybody."
Dent was certainly impressed with the way Murray returned against him, the American describing the experience as making him feel like he was serving under-armed.
Murray quite liked it too and revealed he and coach Miles McLagan have developed a special technique to prepare for the game's heavy servers.
"It's something I practise a lot," he said. "I view the return as being as important as the serves, so I practise it loads and have Miles serve at me from just behind the service line so I'm used to returning hard serves. He does that before every match, not just guys that serve big."
Victory for Murray would propel him into a quarter-final clash with either the in-form Juan Martin del Potro, or Juan Carlos Ferrero, both of whom he has beaten of late.
* PA
Scorebox
Dubai Sports City Eagles 7 Bahrain 88
Eagles
Try: Penalty
Bahrain
Tries: Gibson 2, Morete 2, Bishop 2, Bell 2, Behan, Fameitau, Sanson, Roberts, Bennett, Radley
Cons: Radley 4, Whittingham 5
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The squad traveling to Brazil:
Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
The Baghdad Clock
Shahad Al Rawi, Oneworld
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
