World No.1 Andy Murray was unconvincing in his clay debut in 2017, but he got the job done against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, winning 7-5, 7-5. against the 33 year-old veteran.
Murray had not played since suffering a shock loss to Vasek Pospisil in Indian Wells, later citing an elbow injury a the reason for an extended absence that saw him miss the Miami Masters and Great Britain’s Davis Cup tie with France.
On paper Murray’s first match in the second round (first round bye) seemed to offer him the ideal start in his quest to win a title that has so far evaded him in Monaco. Gilles Muller can be a dangerous left-hander, but his best surface is the grass, with a serve-and-volley game not best suited to the red clay. Murray also carried a 5-0 lead in the head-to-head between the two.
Yet Murray came out and looked shaky, double-faulting three times en route to losing his first service game of the match. Murray faced break points again in his second game, and at 3-5. It was as Muller served for the set that Murray finally found his form, breaking the left-hander twice in succession to turn the first set around.
The players traded breaks early in the second set before Murray began to ramp up the pressure. Muller escaped a 0-30 situation with a hold for 5-5, but Murray again forced the same scenario as Muller attempted to reach the tiebreak. Murray produced a superb backhand passing shot at deuce and Muller missed wide with a forehand to give the world No.1 his first win on clay this year.
Murray was certainly sluggish and will have to improve in his next match. He faces another left-hander in Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round, and the Spaniard could not be more different from Muller. A clay specialist, Ramos-Vinolas has been in excellent form so far this tournament. He has dropped just a combined seven games against Renzo Olivo and Carlos Berlocq two Argentinians with a fair amount of clay pedigree between them.
Ramos-Vinolas will also offer a little of the unknown factor, as he and Murray have never met before. Ramos-Vinolas is a consistent player though, and has a career win against Roger Federer.
Two other Spaniards had mixed fortunes in the second round. 13th seed Pablo Carreno-Busta beat NextGen star Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-4, but veteran Feliciano Lopez was soundly beaten by Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-0.
