Murray Marches Into Shanghai 3R

Andy Murray had little trouble taking his seventh consecutive tour-level victory on Wednesday at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The second seed needed 75 minutes to beat Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-2 and improve his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Johnson to 3-0.

The American had forced Murray to pull out a third-set tie-break the last time they played, at the Rio Olympics. But Murray was on from the start of their second-round match in Shanghai. The Brit saved the only break point he faced in the first set and never gave Johnson a look at another one. The two-time Shanghai champion also feasted on Johnson’s second serve, winning 70 per cent of his second-serve return points (14/20).

Murray moves into the third round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, where he’ll face Frenchman Lucas Pouille for the second time. The Brit claimed their earlier contest, 6-2, 6-1 win at Rome.

Pouille survived a tight second-round affair against unseeded Nicolas Almagro, needing 90 minutes to beat the Spaniard 6-4, 7-6(10). Pouille, the 13^th seed, won 75 per cent of his service points, including 66 per cent of his second-serve points.

Fifteenth seed Roberto Bautista Agut advanced 6-4, 6-4 against American qualifier Taylor Fritz, a member of the ATP Next Generation. Both players didn’t give any breaks away. Bautista Agut saved all seven break points faced; Fritz erased eight of 10.

The Spaniard will meet Serbian Viktor Troicki in the third round. Troicki stunned Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6(3).