Andy Murray has defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters. Murray won the match in the straight sets by 6-1, 6-4. The match was done and dusted in just 72 minutes.

Murray had been practicing hard here at Monte Carlo since the last few days. The Scot reckons that he doesn’t play that well on clay courts, but, his performance in this match doesn’t suggest that. He hardly played a loose shot against Vasselin.

Murray has been given the second seed in this tournament. He had become the no. 2 player in the world by winning the Sony Open a few weeks ago. But, if he gets knocked out of Monte Carlo Masters before the quarter finals, he will again slip behind Roger Federer in the world rankings.

After winning the match against Vasselin, Murray said, “I managed to take a lead of 4-0 in the first set and that helped. Edouard was nervous initially and was not moving across quickly, but, in the second set, he began playing well.”

“He was playing the return shots well in the second set. I just tried to stay positive and that worked. It’s really a fine beginning.”

In the opening set, Murray got breakthroughs in the 2^nd and the 4^th game and got ahead by 4-0. But, Vasselin broke back in the 5^th game to make the score 4-1.

The Frenchman couldn’t win any more game in the set. In the 6^th game, he dropped his serve again and then, Murray served out the 7^th game to win the set.

In the second set, Murray got a breakthrough in the 3^rd game to take a lead of 2-1.  He won his remaining service games after that and sealed the match.

Andy Murray has defeated Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open. Murray won the match in the straight sets by 7-6 (7/4), 6-4. This win took Murray into the quarter final round of the event.

During the match, Murray looked upset with loud noise made by Berlocq. He talked to the umpire about it and he mentioned it in his post match interview as well.

Talking to the reporters, Murray said, “That was absolutely hilarious. He was making a very loud noise and that was disturbing me. I have never seen a player grunting like that.”

“It was certainly a difficult match. I had to fight hard for points especially in that opening set. He was very good on his serve and he kept me under pressure in the entire set.”

“Then, in the second set, I played better. I created a lot of chances. However, it still got a bit close at the end.”

In the first set, Murray was looking a bit out of touch. His serve was broken in the third game and he got trailed by 1-2. He had a chance to level the scores as he got a breakpoint in the next game. But, he couldn’t cash on that and Berlocq managed to increase his lead to 3-1 by holding his serve.

Murray again got a couple of breakpoints in the 6^th game and this time, he didn’t miss out. He got the breakthrough and equalized the scores.

Murray dropped his serve again in the 9^th game which took him down by 4-5. However, he broke back immediately and levelled the scores again.

The next two games went with the serve and that took the set into the tie breaker. In the tie breaker, Berlocq didn’t play that efficiently and ended up losing the set.

In the second set, both the players got one breakthrough each in the first four games and the score was levelled at 2-2 at the end of the 4^th game.

Murray got another breakthrough in the 7^th game to get ahead by 4-3 and this time, he didn’t let Berlocq bounce back. He held all his remaining serves after that and won the match.

In the quarter final, Murray will take on Berlocq’s compatriot Juan Martin Del Potro.

Andy Murray has defeated Gilles Simon of France in the fourth round of the Australian Open 2013. Murray won the match in the straight sets by 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. This was a brutal performance by the British superstar. He was in tremendous form and he just outplayed his French opponent. This victory took Murray into the quarterfinals.

Before the match, there were a few reports that this match might not happen as Simon was not 100% fit. But, the French player decided to take part in the match.

In the opening set, Murray started with a serve break in the first game, but, Simon recovered immediately and broke Murray’s service in the very next game to equalize the scores. But, Murray got yet another breakthrough in the third game and got ahead by 2-1.

Murray held his service for the first time in the fourth game and he made the score 3-1 in his favour. The next four games went with the serve and at the end of eighth game; Simon was trailed by 3-5. He had to hold his serve in the ninth game to take the set further, but, he didn’t manage to do so. He dropped his serve for the third time in the set and lost the opening set by 3-6.

In the first game of the second set, Murray had a shaky start and he got trailed by 0-30. However, he recovered well and managed to hold his serve to take a lead of 1-0. The Scot broke Simon’s service in the second game and was off to a lead of 2-0. The next couple of games went with the serve and at the end of the fourth game; the scorecard was showing 3-1 in Murray’s favour. After that, Murray got very aggressive. He won the next three games with two consecutive serve breaks and won the second set by 6-1.

In the third set, the first couple of games went with the serve. Murray managed to sneak a breakthrough in the third game and then, he enhanced his lead with an easy serve hold in the fourth game. Both the players held their service in the next four games and at the end of the eighth game; Murray was ahead by 5-3. The world no. 3 got a match point in the ninth game and he was not going to miss out on that opportunity. He broke Simon’s service and won the match.

In the quarter final, Murray will take on Jeremy Chardy of France.

Former British tennis player, Tim Henman, has said that Andy Murray would take his game to the next level and would win many more titles in the upcoming season. The 2012 season was the best season for Murray so far in his career. He won the gold medal in the men’s singles competition of the London Olympics and then, won his maiden Grand Slam title by defeating Novak Djokovic in the final of the US Open. Henman believes that it’s only the start for the 25 years old Scottish superstar and he will ultimately become one of the greatest players in tennis history.

When Henman was asked about Murray’s performance in the 2012 season, he said, “It was a fantastic season for Andy; no doubt about that. But, I personally believe that he is capable of performing much better than that. He has got enormous potential and his temperament has also improved quite a lot in the last one year. He can beat any player in the world on his day.”

“He is not too far away from becoming the no. 1 player in the world. Roger Federer has been a bit inconsistent in the recent times and we don’t know how Rafael Nadal is going to play after that severe knee injury. So, there is a good possibility that Andy would reach the top of the rankings at some point of time in the next season.”

Henman also hailed Murray’s coach Ivan Lendl and said that he has helped Murray a lot in improving his game. Henman said, “Murray’s coach has done a fantastic job. He detected the technical weaknesses in Murray’s game and helped him rectify those weaknesses.”

Murray and his coach are currently in Miami where they are preparing for the Australian Open.

Andy Murray will start the new season by participating in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship which is going to be played from 27^th to 29^th of December at Abu Dhabi International Tennis Complex. Murray hadn’t been participating in this tournament since the last three years, but, the British superstar has decided to take part this time around.

Apart from Murray, five other top players will also take part in this tournament. Those five players are Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych and Janko Tipsarevic. Andy Murray’s first match will be against the no. 9 player in the world Janko Tipsarevic. Continue reading →

Andy Murray has defeated Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in a match of the Rakuten Japan Open at Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo. With this victory, Murray has made his way into the semi finals of the competition.

Murray won the match by 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. It took Murray approximately two hours to defeat Wawrinka. This was the 12^th match between these two players and Murray has won eight of them.

Murray started the match brilliantly. He gave Wawrinka the first blow in the very first game of the match. He served out the second game to make the score 2-0. The next two games went with the serve and the score was 3-1 at the end of the fourth game.

Murray broke Wawrinka’s service again in the 5^th game and then, held his service in the next game to take a lead of 5-1. Wawrinka needed a couple of breakthroughs to come back into the set, but, Murray didn’t let that happen. He served out the 8^th game to win the first set by 6-2.

Wawrinka bounced back in the second set. He broke Murray’s service in the fourth game to take a lead of 3-1. He held his service in the rest of the games and won the second set by 6-3.

But, the US Open champion lifted his game in the final set. The first three games of the final set went with the serve and the score was 2-1 in the favour of Murray at the end of the third game. Wawrinka’s service was broken in the fourth game and the score became 3-1. Both the players held their service in the next three games.

Wawrinka needed to hold his service in the eighth game to extend the match, but, that wasn’t the case to be. Murray got his second breakthrough in the set and wrapped up the match by winning the final set by 6-2.

In the semi final, Murray will play against Milos Raonic of Canada.