World No 1 Murray wins 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0
Scot will play Martin Klizan of Slovakia in round two
After briefly losing his way, top seed Andy Murray battled his way past Andrey Kuznetsov to take his place in round two of the French Open, winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.
It was not a perfect start by the world No1, who began the match strongly only to go walkabout about in the second set, but he finished the match with real momentum, visibly growing in belief and authority. After an indifferent build-up to Roland Garros, Murray can look forward to a second round encounter with Slovakia’s Martin Klizan with improved confidence.
“I started to feel a little bit better as the match went on but I expected a tough match because he’s played well during the clay-court season,” said Murray.
“He goes for his shots, plays very aggressive and hits the ball pretty flat, so he takes your time away. “
If Murray went into the match with questions surrounding his form and fitness – he had won only four clay-court matches this year, and has been variously afflicted by a bout of shingles, an elbow injury and the flu – there seemed little prospect of the top seed going the same way as his female counterpart, Angelique Kerber, when he cantered to a 5-3 lead in the opening set.
But Murray faltered when serving for the set and, although he broke in the next game to seal the opener, Kuznetsov, ranked 73, appeared to draw encouragement from the wobble, breaking in the opening game of the second set.
A familiar pattern developed from there, Murray chuntering to himself as he grew increasingly exasperated. The Scot broke back immediately, but was broken again in the fifth and seventh games, the Russian establishing a cushion that enabled him to see out the set.
From there, though, Murray stepped on the accelerator, playing with an aggression and verve to which Kuznetsov had no answer, and by the end his opponent cut a forlorn figure.
Edmund into round two
Kyle Edmund reached the second round of the French Open for the third year in a row with a convincing victory over Portugal’s Gastao Elias. The British No2 favours clay and made that show in a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 win that lasted an hour and 46 minutes. The 22-year-old will now look to progress beyond the second round for the first time, although to do that he is likely to have to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
British No1 exits in first round of tournament for second year running
Seventh seed beaten 1-6, 7-6, 6-4
Johanna Konta’s struggles on clay continued as she suffered a hugely disappointing defeat to Hsieh Su-wei in the first round of the French Open.
The seventh seed was looking for her first main-draw win at Roland Garros but this appeared a kind draw and she raced through the first set.
Hsieh, a 31-year-old from Chinese Taipei ranked 109, went into the match with little form to speak of, especially on clay.
But from unpromising beginnings she turned things around on Court Philippe Chatrier to win 1-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 and reach the second round here for only the second time.
Konta’s remarkable improvement over the last couple of years does not yet extend to clay. The 26-year-old is far from unique in finding movement on the surface troublesome, and she arrived in Paris with just three clay wins under her belt this season.
Konta wasted no time stamping her authority on proceedings, hitting the ball with customary clout off both forehand and backhand.
Hsieh was left helpless and, although she got on the board in the fourth game, the first set was over in just 24 minutes. Hsieh fared better in the second set, with her unconventional game beginning to frustrate Konta and draw more errors.
Having won just five points in seven previous Konta service games, Hsieh should have broken at 4-3 but netted a routine smash with the court at her mercy.
The British No1 then missed three chances to move 6-5 ahead and had to save a set point to force a tie-break.
Konta took the opening two points but Hsieh’s clever use of slice and drop shots had given her the mental edge and she reeled off seven straight points to level the match.
Having been unable to break down Hsieh’s game, Konta looked short of ideas and she soon found herself in real trouble.
Hsieh took two of three consecutive breaks and then saved four break points serving for the match, clinching it when Konta netted a return.
No comments:
Post a Comment