Murray Finds Top Gear
I didn't get a chance to review what was an absolutely fabulous performance by Andy Murray against Juan Martin Del Potro on Saturday to move into the 4th Round of the French Open, winning in straight sets against the Argentine: 7-6, 7-5, 6-0. So I'm going to try and combine that with this look at his equally straightforward 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Karen Khachanov, as the world number one is hitting form at the right time.
It looked for long periods of a gripping first set with Del Potro as though it might be an entirely different story, with Del Potro in fine form and Murray struggling, falling a break down early on. But the Briton fought back with Del Potro serving for the set, and after a long game, was able to break back to take the set to a tiebreaker.
And what a tiebreaker it was, as Del Potro stormed into the lead, only to be pegged back again by Murray, who saved four set points before taking the breaker 10-8, in what was one of the best tie-breakers of tennis I've seen. It felt like the final set rather than the first set, and Del Potro's broken reaction to it seemed to indicate that it was for him too. Indeed he simply didn't get going, and could well have been 4-0 down before he got going in the second set.
However, Murray let him off the hook, and Del Potro was able to break back to take the second set to 5-5 as Murray failed to serve out for the second set. But the Argentine found himself broken again straight away and as Murray took the second set 7-5, Del Potro's resistance was completely gone. It was a washout in the final set, Murray not breaking sweat and winning in 28 minutes.
It's a shame that such a scintillating first set between two tough competitors fizzled out so completely, as Murray carried on playing well and Del Potro couldn't keep his momentum going. But it was terrific news for the world number one, who was able to sweep into the 4th Round without having to work too hard but finding his form sufficiently.
And that form was prevalent as Murray swept aside the Russian Khachanov in straight sets, albeit with his opponent not putting up the sternest resistance. Murray was staunch in defence and precise in attack, creating just one break point in the first set but only needing one to take it 6-3, giving away just one unforced error and not giving the Russian a sniff on his serve.
With Murray so comfortable in the first set, he looked certain to win in straight sets, and truthfully the second and third sets were a similar story. He broke early in the second, and was pegged back immediately through a very sloppy game on his own serve, but immediately stepped it up, made it three breaks in a row and cruised through the second set.
Similarly in the third, he broke immediately, moving 2-0 up, and when Khachanov broke him for the second time in the match to level the set at 4-4, for the second time Murray broke back immediately. From there it was a straightforward task to serve out the set and make it a second straight sets win in three days.
From here, Murray's quarter-final opponent on Wednesday will be Kei Nishikori, who overcame injury and a first set whitewash to beat Fernando Verdasco in four, with both Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka winning to set up their quarter final, with the winners facing each other in the semi-finals. And whilst Murray at the start of last week would have been glad to make it this far, with his current game as good as it is, he has every chance of reaching the final, even if Rafa Nadal looks totally unbeatable.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Cheick Tiote has died at 30. Devastating news.
- Australia cruising against an average Bangladesh performance.
- Hazard has broken his ankle. Ouch.
- What an ending to the Northants v Durham match.
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