Andy Murray insists he will avoid watching Novak Djokovic’s matches at Wimbledon unless he has to face the defending champion in the final.
Djokovic needed two days and five sets to overcome South African Kevin Anderson in the last 16 on Tuesday and he will now play Croatia’s Marin Cilic for a place in the last four.
While Djokovic was battling through the deciding set on Court One, Murray was practising nearby and the Scot could hear the cheers emanating out from the Serb’s marathon contest.
The British number one showed no inclination to follow the large scoreboard behind him, however, and he made no reaction either when Djokovic’s victory was sealed.
Murray has lost to the world number one at both the Australian Open and the French Open this year, but they have been drawn in opposite halves of the draw at SW19 and cannot meet until the final.
“I will check the app and follow the live scores during the day but I don’t sit and watch a whole set; when I’m getting ready I’ll just catch a few points here and there,” Murray told the BBC.
“On Monday I only saw the end of the (Tomas) Berdych-(Gilles) Simon match, a few games of the (Nick) Kyrgios match, a little bit of Roger (Federer) and a couple of games of Novak.
“If I was to play Novak or Kevin Anderson in the next round, I might take a bit of a closer look, but it’s such a long way away from affecting me that at this stage I’m not following it closely.
“Maybe later on in the tournament, if I was to play against one of them, I might make more of an effort to see how it’s going.”
Murray will now play Canada’s Vasek Pospisil in the last eight and the match-up looks a kind one for the Briton, given it is the first time Pospisil has made it past the third round of a grand slam.
Pospisil has also never beaten Murray in three previous meetings and he played two five-set matches on Monday, beating Viktor Troicki in the singles before later losing to Murray’s brother Jamie and John Peers in the doubles tournament.
Murray hopes those demanding contests will work in his favour on Wednesday but insists extra time on court can also have its advantages.
“Pospisil had a great win over Viktor Troicki in singles earlier in the day, which meant he played 10 sets on Monday,” Murray said.
“I don’t know if that will affect him when we play on Wednesday but, selfishly, I hope so. He’s played a lot of tennis here with three five-setters.
“The plus is that on grass the matches aren’t as long – a five-setter in New York takes a bit more of a toll on your body than here – but Vasek has spent quite a lot of time on the court so far and that can be mentally draining.
“He may also be a little bit fatigued, but then again he’s played so much tennis that he’s going to be comfortable in the conditions and in a good rhythm.
“If he is tired I’ll obviously try to capitalise on that, but I won’t bank on it.”