Nick Bollettieri: Murray will put on a show fit for the Queen if he can keep his cool

The Wimbledon files

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Andy Murray made an assured start on Tuesday, dispatching Jan Hajek in straight sets to earn himself an appointment with royalty today on Centre Court. The Queen is coming to the All England Club for the first time since 1977, Virginia Wade and all that, and you don't need omens to see Murray going deep in to this tournament. Each time he's played here, he's gone a round further than before.

Last year it was the semis. This time?

Suffice to say I expect him to get past Jarkko Nieminen, although the Finn is a scrapper, dogged, stays in matches he really shouldn't, and comes with the leftie advantages that no one likes to face.

What danger does Nieminen present? Well I don't want to damn him with faint praise but aside from good movement, good work ethic and a fighting mentality, the Finn has no single big weapon in his armoury. His serving is solid but not massive. Equally there is no major weakness. He's a decent, solid pro.

Murray is so much more, with wonderful movement, soft hands, and a return as good as anyone in the world. In Murray's opener, he was more attacking than he's been in similar matches and that's a good thing. He laid down the marker he needed to and I expect him to be progressively more aggressive.

We know Murray hasn't had the best season so far by his own high standards, at least not since reaching the Australian Open final and losing to Roger Federer.

If there was a reaction to that – and I don't see how he could have avoided a reaction to such a defeat – then Andy himself says he's now full of confidence and we have to take him at his word. Certainly he looked assured against Hajek and his body language has been chilled this week.

How will Murray win today's match? By changing nothing. By serving well. By dominating points and dictating play. By producing winners instead of just staying back. By good returns, offensive returns. I think that should do it and I take him to win in three.

The other reason for thinking Andy can have a good run is that he does seemed genuinely at ease with his life, perhaps more settled than at other recent times. His back-up team is also important and on that note I bumped into his mum, Judy, yesterday. As a coach for 55 years, I've had quite a bit of experience with nightmare tennis parents and I can assure you that Judy is the exact opposite, the dream tennis parent, putting her son's interests first, being supportive and never pushy. She's a wonderful coach in her own right. If only I could persuade Judy to come to my academy in Florida and teach parents to be a bit more like her, we could save some headaches, I can tell you! She'll be a proud mum today.

Today's big match: Jarkko Nieminen v Andy Murray

How they match up:

Finnish Nationality British

28 Age 23

Masku Residence Surrey

2000 Turned pro 2005

Left-handed Plays Right-handed

6ft 1in Height 6ft 3in

No 67 World ranking No 4

1 Career titles 14

$4.6m Career prize money $11.2m

W11 L6 Wimbledon record W15 L4

QF (2006) Wimbledon best SF (2009)

10-1 Odds 1-12

Head-to-headleads: 2-0

Bollettieri's prediction: Murray in three.

Coaching report: Ricardas Berankis v Feliciano Lopez

Ricardas Berankis is a Lithuanian 20-year-old who lives at my academy and is a talented young player who I went to watch here yesterday. He lost to Feliciano Lopez but it's a breath of fresh air to be involved with a guy like Ricardas because he has got guts, verve and a work ethic that are second to none. I am guessing most British tennis fans will last have heard Berankis's name when he was the key player as Britain lost to Lithuania in the Davis Cup not so long ago.

Berankis moves well, has good groundstrokes and is only 5ft 8in, which is tiny for a pro. On those criteria alone he would not be able to cut it on the Tour. But he went out and got himself a serve that defies his stature – he worked on it like crazy and it is a key part of his game. He is, in short, a role model for making the most of what you've got – and then a bit more.

This is relevant to British tennis because in a nation of 60 million people, you really should have more good players. That should be attainable. For years I have offered my expertise and facilities to the LTA and I can tell you I met with top officials yesterday to see if we can take it forward. It was a positive meeting and I am sure we'll see some developments in due course. Watch this space, folks!

Roddick rocked it, and I nailed it

I also went to watch Andy Roddick yesterday against Michael Llodra and my compatriot won against the French leftie in four tough sets, thanks primarily to the way he was able to handle Llodra's serve. As regular readers know, I'm a shy and retiring guy who hates to blow his own trumpet, but in my column yesterday I said Roddick would win in four tough sets and the key would be his handling of Llodra's serve. Nailed it, baby!

That's good for Andy, too. I'd like to see him go a long, long way here, and his comeback from the loss of the first set tells me he is in a good, confident place, mentally. Llodra was tricky early, but Roddick then got a read on that serve. Andre Agassi's attitude in a situation like that was not to be tentative with returns but to slap it back any which way and see if you could feel your way into it. Roddick did that. Then he had the composure to come back, and the assuredness to stay in control of rallies.

Venus and Serena at home

Venus Williams had a stroll on the grass yesterday, and I expect Serena to win again today. When I coached Boris Becker, he said: "Mr B, Wimbledon is my home and I'm staying two weeks." All evidence so far says the same about the Williams sisters this year.

World Cup of tennis

I'm to predict soccer matches in South Africa based upon the strengths of nations in tennis, and by assessing national sporting personalities and traits through tennis players I've known and worked with. Then, I project that onto the soccer and see what happens. As a New Yorker of Italian descent I have to declare that interest. But it does not impinge on my objectivity today, honestly folks!

Slovakia v Italy

Let's deal with the Slovaks in tennis terms first. It's a young nation but even in the days of Czechoslovakia, the big achievers in the game (Drobny, Navratilova and more) tended to hail from Czech backgrounds, not Slovakian. In more recent times, the best players have been Karol Kucera and Dominik Hrbaty. From Italy, we've had Slam winners in Nicola Pietrangeli who won the French in 1959 and 1960, and Adriano Panatta who won it in 1976, and of course in the women's, the current champion is Francesca Schiavone. On that pedigree, among lesser tennis nations, the Italians win today's football. I believe Italy would have had more male champions if they'd had the guts or heart of so many of our women's players.

Back to the football boys, my goodness, they sure better win today, because I've got my annual holiday in Capri coming up soon, and soccer is a religion in Italy.

Every bell-hop, mom, papa and priest go bazooka for the Azzurri. If we (Italy) don't go through, I might have to cancel Capri: who wants to holiday among mourners!

Win a week at my academy

Want a week's tennis holiday at my academy in Florida? Included in the prize is five days' top-class tuition. The prize can be for an adult wanting to shape up your game, or for a child who wants to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Andre Agassi, Monica Seles and Maria Sharapova, among other players who went from being kids under my tuition to No1 in the world.

All you have to do is email to tell me who will win today's big match. I want a specific score line, and as a tie-breaker, a one-sentence summary of the manner in which your pick will win. All winners go into a hat, with one overall winner picked from there. Email: n.bollettieri@independent.co.uk

Yesterday's winner was Neil Thomas.

If the prize is for a child, parent(s) or guardian(s) must accompany at your own expense. The winner arranges the travel.