US Open gallery: men's draw, day 2
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Andy Murray’s US Open campaign is up and running after the world No.2 posted a routine 7-5 6-3 7-5 victory over Ernests Gulbis.
The world No.2 took just two and a quarter hours under the lights of an Arthur Ashe night session to dispatch the Latvian, despite the belief that he represented a threatening first-round opponent.
But Murray, who has never lost to Gulbis and also beat him in straight sets at Wimbledon this year, rarely looked threatened by his opponent – but did take a worrying tumble late in the third set chasing a drop-shot, landing in a heap on his opponent’s kit bag.
“Maybe it will hurt in the morning for a little bit, but I don’t think it did any damage,” Murray said afterwards.
“He played very well, a lot better than at Wimbledon”
All in all, it was a steady performance from last year’s finalist. Murray sealed a nip-and-tuck first set that came to life in game ten when he brought up the first set point of the match, which Gulbis saved with an ace.
A game later Murray found himself facing break point, recovering with a service winner of his own to put the pressure back on the Latvian 21-year-old, whose form deserted him at just the wrong time. A wretched service game handed Murray a further four set points, which the Scot eventually converted.
Murray then looked set to race away with the match, romping to a 3-0 lead in the second, but was pegged back as Gulbis broke for the first time in the match to cut the deficit to 4-3. The Latvian could not sustain his flashes of brilliance, and immediately handed Murray his break back as the second set disappeared from sight.
Gulbis fought for everything to stay with Murray in the third but a stunning backhand cross-court winner sealed the crucial break for the Scot in game 11, before he served out for a comfortable victory.
“I thought it was a high standard of match,” said Murray. “My concentration could have been a bit better, but for a first match I thought it was very good because he played very well, a lot better than at Wimbledon.”
The 22-year-old now faces former training partner Paul Capdeville, after the Chilean beat Victor Crivoi 6-3 6-0 7-6(2).
Capdeville, ranked 87 in the world, is a player Murray knows well. The duo trained together in Barcelona when they were juniors.
“We had the same coach, trained at the same academy and we did one or two trips together,” said Murray of the world No.87. “I went to South America with him and we played a bit of doubles. I’m sure a lot of people won’t know him that well, but I know him relatively well and there won’t be any surprises.”
A good start was made better for Murray as his potential third and fourth round opponents Ivo Karlovic and Stanislas Wawrinka suffered shock first-round defeats. 6’10” Croatian Karlovic lost 6-4 7-6(8) 7-6(5) to Ivan Navarro, while Wawrinka saw a two-set lead evaporate against Ecuador’s NIcolas Lapentti 4-6 3-6 7-6(6) 7-6(3) 6-3.
But Murray said that those results mean nothing to him right now. “If I lose the next round its irrelevant what those two have done, so I’ll try and focus on the next match.”
Fernando Verdasco and Marin Cilic remain in line to face Murray. The Spaniard beat Benjamin Becker 7-5 6-4 7-5 to progress, while Cilic posted a 7-6(2) 6-4 7-6(4) win over American Ryan Sweeting.
Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic dismantled Ivan Ljubicic in emphatic fashion, sending the Croatian packing after just over an hour and a half with a 6-3 6-1 6-3 victory.
“If you play a big server who has been world No.3, won a Davis Cup, has a lot of titles and so much experience, you’ve got to be cautious,” Djokovic said afterwards, but rarely looed threatened by the 30-year-old.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also raced into the second round with an even more one-sided win over wildcard Chase Buchanan, crushing the 18-year-old 6-0 6-2 6-1.
“I’m here to win and to go to the next step,” said the 24-year-old Frenchman, who has exited at the third round in both of his previous appearances. “The next step for me is to be in the five best players in the world.”
Igor Andreev was left stunned by American qualifier Jesse Witten, who dumped the No.29 seed out with a 6-4 6-0 6-2 victory – his first ever ATP Tour match victory.
“The last couple of weeks I’ve been playing well and I am not even sure why, but I am just going to roll with it,” said the 26-year-old world No.276, who now faces Maximo Gonzalez in the next round.
“I played three qualifiers and I feel comfortable on the outside courts here. I wasn’t nervous and that helped me get off to a quick start.”
No.11 seed Fernando Gonzalez saw off Chilean compatriot Nicolas Massu 6-3 6-3 6-3.
