Mirnyi walking tall in land of big names

The ground has ceased shaking from his footfall; "Boris" has been restored to his grave; now it is just left to "The Beast" to inflict his savagery. It was all starting to sound rather too much like a Hammer Horror feature out on Court 13 on Friday afternoon. Hammer was an apposite word, too, with Ivo Karlovic - or "Karloff" as we have named him - the Croatian colossus, and Max Mirnyi, the bellicose Belarussian, who is John McEnroe's outside fancy for the singles title, placing spectators and even the superstructure of the court in some jeopardy.

Don Quixote's words came to mind: "Take care, your worship. Those things over there, they are not giants but windmills." Certainly, the wind was in their sails as, early on in proceedings, the words "service return" looked like being rendered a redundant part of the language.

It wasn't necessarily the pace of the ball - the average first serve of both players was less than 120mph - more its trajectory as this pair, one 6ft 10in, the other 6ft 5in, reached into the heavens to make contact. It was like placing the public in the vicinity of a volatile munitions dump, and then carelessly tossing a flare into the area. Balls were constantly rearing up off the grass or off the players' rackets at all angles. No 13 is supposedly a show court, but it is still a confined space, and Karlovic, the only player who, when other players have to go off because of rain, could continue playing above the clouds, managed to create a stage of Lilliputian dimensions.

But the "smaller" man refused to be intimidated. Originally nicknamed "The Beast" because of his aggression on court, he may be Karlovic's junior in sheer skyline-jutting lankiness, but as Todd Woodbridge said of him after being beaten in a doubles match by the Belarussian: "It felt like Max is a Boeing 747; with his wingspan he was all over the court."

Super Mac is but one judge who has great faith in a player one suspects will quickly adopt the epithet of Max Headroom. McEnroe is insistent that his man will reach the quarter-finals, when, with permutations willing, he is due to meet Andy Roddick.

Here, after the almost obligatory first set tie-break, Mirnyi began to read his opponent with some purpose and, as he proceeded to a 3-1 set triumph which means he will meet the Swede Jonas Bjorkman next as he enters the rarefied atmosphere of a second week here, the serve-volleyer's deftness of touch when required demonstrated that his game possessed a subtlety and variation that the Croatian's didn't. In that sense, his progress was a pleasure to view. "It's a sad story in a way, but it's a positive thing for me. The fewer serve and volleyers, the better it is for me because I become more of a unique player."

Just a shame about that shirt. Sleeveless and, dare one say it, tasteless. Whatever possessed Nike to insist that he wears it? Afterwards it was into the land of the giants, even for this observer (6ft 4in). Dad, Nikolai, his coach, is a towering inferno of paternal pride (there is also a younger brother, Peter, a basketball player who, apparently, is even taller than both). A member of the Russian national volleyball team in the Sixties, Mirnyi Snr admits that his son required some encouragement as a youngster. "By the age of 10, Max [full name Maxim] had won a lot of matches in the former Soviet Union and then we started to take things more seriously. I had to push him a lot, up to when he was 15."

The thought goes through your head that, in some cases of which we are aware, that "push" could quite easily lead to shove. However, Mirnyi Snr quickly intercepts and deals with the inevitable question about overbearing, manipulative parents by stating: "As Max himself was to say in interviews when he was younger: 'Before, I play tennis for my dad. Now I know I play tennis for myself'." Mirnyi Snr believes his son will withstand the psychological pressure as he advances through the tournament. "You cannot be number one, even in doubles, if you're not strong mentally."

It is said that his equable on-court demeanour may be the benefit of yoga, which he practises regularly. Mirnyi, 25, born in Minsk, but who now divides his time between Belarus and Florida, where he is based at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, has twice been US Open doubles champions, in 2000, with his friend Lleyton Hewitt, and last year with Mahesh Bhupathi. "The fact that I play both singles and doubles may be one of the reasons that it [progress] is taking me a little bit longer," he says. "But then I'm sure that doubles helps me with my game."

Although now frequently domiciled in the US, his homeland remains important to him. He has represented Belarus in the Davis Cup since 1995, and has never missed a tournament. He is also his nation's UN Aids Ambassador. "Belarus is one of the countries in the world where the Aids virus is spreading; my task is to inform young people about Aids and how to avoid it, and for people who do have Aids to tell them there are ways of living with it," he explains.

"I guess they were looking for a positive person, with a high stature, who many people could relate to. As we all know, the majority of those who spread the virus are young people with a careless way of living, have unsafe sex and do drugs, so they were looking for someone who they could rely on to spread the information out, be a role model. It is a big honour and also a great responsibility."

So is the concept of a Belarussian attaining a Wimbledon quarter-final place. There is every possibility, if McEnroe is correct in his assertion. "It certainly gives you a lot of confidence when somebody of John McEnroe's stature says something like that," says Mirnyi. "He's been very positive to me, and I appreciate his support." With so much to admire about the Belarussian's approach to the game, the former champion will not be alone.