TENNIS – Andy Murray (3) extended his winning streak on clay this season to 13 as he knocked out Nick Kyrgios in straight sets 6-4 6-4 6-2 6-3. Jonathan Fraser
One of the more intriguing match ups of the 3rd round encounters was that of third seed Andy Murray taking on Australian Nick Kyrgios. Many people will remember the exciting prospect Kyrgios from his coveted performance at last year’s Wimbledon beating Rafael Nadal in the Round of 16. The 29th seed had moved comfortably into the 3rd round with a walkover British player Kyle Edmund withdrew from the tournament with an injury. Murray’s route was similarly straight forwards despite dropping a set to Joao Sousa in 2nd round.
The quality of play in the 1st set met the anticipation of the crowd. With Kyrgios stepping up the court striking the ball heavy, Murray using his excellent ability to soak up the pressure playing deep to the baseline the first set was very tightly contested. With early breaks of serve by both players, the match was levelled at 3-3. However, Kyrgios lost focus on his serve and Murray seized this opportunity to break again. This time he consolidated the break for a 5-3 lead. After hitting a topspin backhand lob to save a break back point Murray went onto close out the set to love in a composed manner 6-4.
The 2nd set continued in a similar vein with Murray hitting deeper in the court, keeping many balls in play and using variety to challenge the Australian’s rhythm and flow. Murray’s hard hitting and shot making variety soon broke down the Kyrgios’ game and saw him leading 5-2. A somewhat edgy service game gave the 20-year-old Kyrgios an opportunity to break back but a gaping forehand miss let Murray off the hook as he eventually held serve. It appeared that the experience of Murray was coming through sealing the second set 6-2.
Following a medical timeout at the end of the 2nd set, it became apparent that the young Australian was bothered by a wrist or forearm injury which was affecting his powerful serve. Despite this, Kyrgios was able to start the 3rd set leading 2-0. However, Murray sensing the moment that his opponent’s resolve and energy might be on the rise, Murray quickly broke back to level the set at 2-2 and then broke again for a 5-3 lead.
By this time, it was clear that Kyrgios was not able to put up much of a fight and Murray broke a third time in the set to seal the match 6-4 6-2 6-3 moving into the last 16. Murray should be pleased with his performance this first week of the tournament especially since his time on court has been short. However one thing Murray will look to do is to improve his 1st serve percentage in the 2nd week. Murray will play Jeremy Chardy who defeated David Goffin (17) 6-3 6-4 6-2.
After the match, Murray had this to say, “[C]oming into the tournament, I mean, is the best I have played on clay. The results would obviously suggest that. Never won a clay court tournament, never been to the final and had many wins against any of the top guys, you know, for a while on the clay. Obviously in Madrid, I managed to do that against Kei, Milos, and against Rafa, played some very good matches there.”
