Andy Murray has continued on his path to claiming his first major title with a resounding straight sets victory over Spain’s Marcel Granollers on Thursday night.
The No. 4 seed displayed the form that has seen him become the hottest prospect in men’s tennis in the last six months, defeating the world No. 51 6-4 6-2 6-2.
Murray said he felt his form improve as the match wore on.
“There’s a few too many sort of dips in concentration [but] I thought when I got my feet moving (and) sort of had my mind on the point, I thought I hit the ball well,” he said.
“I didn’t give him too many chances on my serve.”
The match took place later than anticipated following an enthralling women’s singles encounter between Venus Williams and Carla Suarez Navarro. However, once on court, Murray quickly sunk his teeth into Granollers, breaking in the seventh game on his way to taking the first set.
Employing his all-court game with aplomb – including several well-disguised drop shots – Murray quickly progressed through the second set on the back of two breaks of serve.
“It was good to try a few [different] shots here and there … it was a good test,” he said.
Murray’s ability to soak up the Spaniard’s power, return serve effectively and scramble back everything thrown at him proved decisive factors in the match.
Another key aspect was the third game of the third set, a torrid affair in which Murray held a bundle of opportunities to break serve and the two men engaged in several fine rallies.
Murray finally clinched the game on his sixth break point – a psychological boost for the young Scot.
He quickly raced to a 5-1 lead before serving out the match in under two hours.
Murray faces Austrian 31st seed Jurgen Melzer in the third round, a player he described as tough if on his game.
“I know that I’m going to have to play well to win the match,” he said.
“I just think that mentally going in I’m going to feel better this time than I was going in playing against him at the US Open [last year].”
Quick facts
Murray had 31 unforced errors compared to Granoellers’ 27
Murray had 37 winners to the Spaniard’s 18
The Scot’s fastest first serve was 208km/h, but Granoellers’ average first serve speed was marginally faster than his opponent’s (180km/h to 177km/h)
Murray converted six of 16 break point chances
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