Murray Passes Italian Test

  • Posted: Sep 04, 2016

Murray Passes Italian Test

Sep032016

The second seed advances to the fourth round of the US Open

Andy Murray was put to the test by Paolo Lorenzi in the third round of the US Open on Saturday, needing four sets to book his spot in the fourth round. He will next face No. 22 seed Grigor Dimitrov for the tenth time (Murray leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 6-3).

“He’s a very good player,” Murray said of his next opponent. “He does a lot of things well on the court. He has good feel, moves well… It will be another tough one in a couple of days’ time. I expect it to be very hard. I’ll be ready for that. I’ll need to play better than today if I want to win that.” 

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The Dunblane native reached the Round of 16 at a major for the 23rd consecutive tournament (DNP 2013 Roland Garros) after topping the 34-year-old Italian 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. Murray was one of three Brits in the third round of the US Open (also Daniel Evans, Kyle Edmund), the first time this has happened since 1968. 

In the first set, Lorenzi broke Murray for a 5-4 lead, marking just the second time the 2012 champion had been broken in the tournament. But an unforced error from the World No. 40 in the following game gave the second seed the break back. The Scot gained momentum and a mini-break in the eventual tie-break and went on to grab the first set after exactly one hour. 

The pair traded breaks early in the second set, and the Italian, appearing in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, went on to break again for a 4-2 lead. But a 42-shot rally ending in Murray’s favour earned the Scot two break points to get back on serve. One chance was all it took as Lorenzi sent a backhand into the net. Up 6-5, Lorenzi benefited from a forehand error from Murray, grabbing the second set 7-5 to level the match. In the third and fourth sets, it was one-way traffic for Murray, who sealed victory with the help of 60 winners after three hours and 16 minutes.

“I expected a tough match. I expected long rallies. I’m just disappointed with the amount of errors I made. I was quite impatient at times. That cost me in the first and second sets. I worked it out, won, got through, and I didn’t play well. So I’m happy with that.”

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