Murray Continues Wimbledon Quest, Now Plays Millman
Murray Continues Wimbledon Quest, Now Plays Millman
Doubles partners Mahut and Herbert will square-off in the third round
Second seed Andy Murray booked his spot in the third round at The Championships on Thursday by defeating Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-2, 6-1. He is now 48-9 lifetime at the All England Club, where he captured the 2013 title (d. Djokovic) to end a 77-year wait for a British male champion.
Murray converted seven of his 11 break point opportunities in the one-hour and 40-minute encounter on Centre Court. It was Murray’s 35th match win of the year, which includes a fifth crown at the Aegon Championships. He will now face John Millman for the second time, having won their January 2013 match at Brisbane. Murray has not lost before the third round in his 11 appearances at the grass-court major.
Lu, who had been riding an 11-match winning streak on grass that includes two ATP Challenger Tour titles, opened up the match with a 2-0 lead, but Murray was able to work his way back with service breaks in the sixth and eighth games. Murray withstood two break point opportunities in a 12-point hold to wrap up the 39-minute opener.
From a 1-3 deficit in the first set, Murray won seven straight games to a 2-0 advantage in the second set and seize control of their fifth FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. The Scot went on another streak from 3-2 in the second set by winning seven successive games to a 4-0 lead in the third set.
John Millman withstood 53 winners from the racquet of Benoit Paire, the No. 26 seed, to finish victorious 7-6(5), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 and reach a Grand Slam championship third round for the second time (also 2016 Australian Open).
Nicolas Mahut will look to record the 150th tour-level match win of his career against his doubles partner and fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the Wimbledon third round.
Mahut advanced the third round for the first time since 2006 (l. to Federer) after he recorded a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 victory over No. 13 seed David Ferrer in just under two hours. The two-time Ricoh Open titlist hit 44 winners including nine aces, while no rally lasted more than four shots. Herbert, who has partnered Mahut to four doubles trophies this year, struck 16 aces to overcome Damir Dzumhur 3-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(0), 6-2 in two hours and 19 minutes.