Murray to face Wawrinka hurdle
4 Oct 2012 10:46 PM GMT
Defending champion Andy Murray posted a comfortable straight-sets win over Lukas Lacko of Slovakia to earn a place in the quarterfinals at the Japan Open tennis tournament on Wednesday.
The top-seeded Briton, who won the US Open last year and took gold medal in the singles event at the Olympics, needed only 56 minutes to secure a 6-1, 6-2 victory in the second round.
With the win, Murray set up a quarter-final meeting against Beijing Olympic doubles gold medallist Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.
‘I started the match almost perfect. I only lost a couple of points in the first four or five games, so that was important. And once I got a break in the second set, I started to play better again,’ said Murray.
Wawrinka squandered three match points in the second set leading 6-3 in the tie-breaker before beating Jeremy Chardy of France 7-6 [7/1], 6-7 [6/8], 7-5 in two hours 37 minutes.
‘For sure, it wasn’t easy in the second set, especially after having three match points in the tie-break,’ said Wawrinka.
As for the match against Murray, Wawrinka said: ‘He is playing great, he won the Olympics, he won the US Open and he always plays great here.’
In the first round action, Juan Monaco of Argentina whipped Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-1, while third seed Janko Tipsarevic outclassed Gilles Simon of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
The top-seeded Briton, who won the US Open last year and took gold medal in the singles event at the Olympics, needed only 56 minutes to secure a 6-1, 6-2 victory in the second round.
With the win, Murray set up a quarter-final meeting against Beijing Olympic doubles gold medallist Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.
‘I started the match almost perfect. I only lost a couple of points in the first four or five games, so that was important. And once I got a break in the second set, I started to play better again,’ said Murray.
Wawrinka squandered three match points in the second set leading 6-3 in the tie-breaker before beating Jeremy Chardy of France 7-6 [7/1], 6-7 [6/8], 7-5 in two hours 37 minutes.
‘For sure, it wasn’t easy in the second set, especially after having three match points in the tie-break,’ said Wawrinka.
As for the match against Murray, Wawrinka said: ‘He is playing great, he won the Olympics, he won the US Open and he always plays great here.’
In the first round action, Juan Monaco of Argentina whipped Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-1, while third seed Janko Tipsarevic outclassed Gilles Simon of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Next Story
