THE road is clearer.

The step is sure. Andy Murray stands tall at Wimbledon as a swathe of top tennis stars have been cut down through injury or loss of form.

The 26-year-old faces Tommy Robredo, of Spain, tomorrow with the path to a final meeting with Novak Djokovic opening up before him.

The Dunblane tyro, of course, is still playing down his chances of progressing right to the final.

But with Roger Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marin Cilic all out from his half of the draw, the world No.2 knows that Wimbledon 2013 holds out the promise of supreme success.

But he said: "There still top players still left in the tournament, and there's a lot of young guys as well coming through, guys like Ernests Gulbis, and Jerzy Janowicz. Those sort of players are starting to break through and play more consistently."

He added: "I'll just concentrate on my next match. I'm playing a tough player, a very experienced guy. I will worry about that match."

The pressure on Murray will now increase with media hype promoting the Scot as a possible winner of the tournament, with hope of ending the 77-year drought at Wimbledon for a British winner in the men's singles.

"I think that comes from your guys' end," he told reporters. "I don't know what will be written. But I just have to take care of what's going on on my side of the court, practise well, prepare well for the matches, try and concentrate on each one at a time. I've done a good job of that the last few years."

He has done a great job of it at Wimbledon 2013, beating Benjamin Becker and Yen-Hsun Lu in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5. He has avoided slip-ups in terms of results and slip-ups in terms of falls on courts in a week where both have affected other top players.

Murray was philosophical about the troubles of others.

"That's sport. You never know what is going to happen," he said. "You can pick things up very easily. Obviously when you're playing, when you're practising, then sometimes guys, you can fall down the stairs, trip over your shoelaces. Who knows? But I feel fine right now."

And so does Robredo. The 31-year-old Spaniard was once No.5 in the world but slid down to the high 400s after injuries. This year he has climbed back up and feels fit and full of confidence as his big match with Murray looms.

His three-set defeat of Nicolas Mahut shows Robredo, a sublime clay-court player, has adapted his game to grass and he has no fears about meeting Murray with whom he has a 2-2 record, though the Spaniard last beat the Scot in Metz in 2007.

"I have nothing to lose. I'm enjoying it. I'm playing great tennis. It's lovely to be in a grand slam playing one of the best players on tour," said Robredo.

"I enjoyed winning today. So I'm going to play Andy in two days, so now I prefer to enjoy, to relax, to go have a great dinner because I deserve it, with a chocolate cake with ice cream. Then tomorrow is going to be a long day to think about Andy."

Robredo, too, made clear he was going to "go for it" but Murray, too, is not ready to take a step back.

"He's very, very experienced. "He's extremely fit," he said of his opponent. "He won three matches in a row at the French from two sets to love down. He fights right until the last point. So it's a tough match for me."

It will be one, though, Murray expects to win and take another step towards that showdown with Djokovic.