|
|
Murray advances with easy win, eyeing world number one spot
|
Britain's Andy Murray returns the ball to Andrei Pavel of Romania during their match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne Jan. 20, 2009. (Xinhua/Zhou Lei)
It took world No. 4 Andy Murray just 45 minutes to make his way into the Australian Open second round as he raced to a 6-2, 3-1 lead before Romanian opponent Andrei Pavel retired with a back injury on a sweltering Tuesday in Melbourne.
Murray, the first victim of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's run to the final last year in Melbourne, won 100 percent of his first serve points and net approaches in his opening match.
Pavel held two break point chances at 5-2 in the first set, but Murray reeled off four straight points to put out the challenge with on-court temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius.
"I think the hotter it is, the easier it can be to sort of restrict your opponents," the Scot said after the match. "The natural thing to do when you're a bit tired is to go for shots when you're a bit out of position, try to shorten the points. Obviously that works to my advantage."
Britain's Andy Murray serves during the match against Romania's Andrei Pavel during their match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne Jan. 20, 2009.(Xinhua/Zhou Lei)
Murray has yet to join the list of grand slam winners but having finished runner-up to Federer at the U.S. Open in September and as the sole player among the top four to win a title last week, the Briton has been installed as the front-runner for the season's opening major.
If that happens, he'd be the first British man to win a Grand Slam title since Fred Perry back in 1936.
And he believes he has reached the sublime form which could make him world number one in six months.
"I'd obviously love to be number one. I'm sure all players would at some point in their career. But I'd want to try and win a Slam first. I think that's the next step for me," said Murray, who opened his 2009 season by defeating Roger Federer and Andy Roddick en route to the Doha title.
"But if I play well the first six months of this year, I don't have a whole lot of points to defend. So there is a chance that I'd do it.
"I'm going to have to play like I did for the second part of the year last year. I'm going to have to do the same in the first part of this year, try and be very consistent."
Murray next faces Spaniard Marcel Granollers, who beat Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-0.
There is also day-session win for Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who came back from losing the first set of his opening match to defeat Australian Open debutant Diego Junqueira 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-4.
The 24th-seeded Gasquet has reached the fourth round at this event the past two years, falling to Tsonga in 2008.
Meanwhile, No. 17 seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain advanced to the second round for the first time in his fifth Australian Open appearance after battling to a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Chilean Nicolas Massu.
A pair of Croatians, No. 25 seed Ivo Karlovic and former World No. 7 Mario Ancic, will face off in the second round after Karlovic dismissed Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and Ancic beat American Wayne Odesnik 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
They have split their previous two meetings, with Ancic winning in 2003 at Stockholm and Karlovic in 2006 at Zagreb.
Source: Xinhua
|
| Your Message: |
Most Popular Photos |
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article