Wimbledon holds no fears for Jonny

A few wise words from British No1 Tim Henman have also helped along the way.

Marray explained: "When I was at the Davis Cup with Tim (in Luxembourg earlier this year) he had a chat with me and gave me some advice. He told me: 'Your game is coming on, stick to what you do well and try to let the other fellah worry about you'. Tim is big influence on the way I play, as is Pat Rafter."

However, Hewitt was not impressed, dismissing his opponent as a one-surface wonder.

The Australian said: "The grasscourt season only lasts for four weeks a year. That is going to be his problem. I am not surprised I hadn't heard of him over the last three or four months on clay.

"He could cause people trouble at Wimbledon, but from all accounts he played a lot better against me than he did in his first two matches. And remember he nearly lost to Christophe Rochus, who is no grass-court specialist, in the first round."

Marray and fellow Briton Ian Flanagan, who was also beaten in the third round yesterday, now head to the Nottingham Open before starting preparations for Wimbledon, which begins in 10 days' time.

Flanagan is still waiting to hear from the All England Club as to whether or not he will be granted a wildcard for the SW19 event. The 22-year-old did not help his cause by pulling out of the LTA's play-off tournament to concentrate on Queen's.

If the All England Club rule that his shock victories over Mark Philippoussis and Victor Hanescu don't merit special treatment, he will play in the qualifying competition-at Roehampton next week. Hewitt, meanwhile, is aiming for his fourth Stella Artois title, having won the event in 2000, 2001 and

2002. He faces Russia's Igor Andreev today for the right to meet either top seed Andy Roddick or Paradorn Srichaphan in the semi-finals.

Roddick, who beat Mario Ancic 7-6, 4-6, 6-4, is favourite to retain the title he won last year.

He said: "I want to play well here to set the tone for the whole grasscourt season."