Near-perfect Andy Murray breezes past Marinko Matosevic at Australian Open

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/21/australian-open-day-three-murray-report

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It is difficult to imagine tennis much better than that with which Andy Murray tormented Marinko Matosevic and Mad Dog’s Australian supporters on day three of the 2015 Australian Open.

The Scot toyed with the stubborn Australian for most of the hour and 42 minutes it lasted, winning 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the third round against the talented young Portuguese Joao Sousa, whom he has beaten three times without dropping a set, including here in Melbourne in the second round two years ago.

Sousa was gifted passage through when Martin Klizan retired injured early in the fourth set out on Court 19, with his opponent two sets to one up.

The sweat raised on Margaret Court Arena, meanwhile, was courtesy of the beating sun rather than any return fire on a warm and windless Wednesday afternoon.

“He improved as the match went on,” Murray said with all the generosity he could muster. “There were tight games in the second and third sets that could have gone either way. It was a great atmosphere and I really enjoyed the match – even if not everyone was supporting me. It was still good fun.”

Reminded that he is now 10-0 against Australian opposition, he played shamelessly to the gallery, declaring, “I had no idea that was the case. Not sure I can hold on to that record for much longer, but I’ll try. There are a lot of terrific young players here. I love Aussies and get on well with a lot of the players.”

The feeling is mutual, and young fans besieged him as he left the court a very happy Scot.

Players dream of days like this, when every shot leaves the racket as if blessed by a higher authority. In the first 15 minutes, Murray did not drop a point on serve, broke Matosevic at will and wrapped up the set for the loss of a single game in 21 minutes. It was a public execution.

He’d been stretched more in the first round, when he needed to win a third-set tie-break to see off the lowest ranked player in the draw, Yuki Bhambri (317 in the world), and Matosevic (81) looked almost apologetic at times, so wide was the gulf in class. It was one of those matches in which the home crowd greeted the beaten man holding serve as perhaps the start of a fightback, only to be immediately disappointed.

When Murray needed to find another gear, it was always there. After being broken in the second set, he settled back into a rhythm and simply cruised into the distance.

But at no point did Matosevic surrender, even if it must have been tempting to just whack and hope, so Murray got a half-decent workout in the end. Nobody could accuse Matosevic of not making the most of the talent he has been given. Few players on the circuit work harder.

Except, perhaps, Murray. He looks in superb shape, probably as fit as he has been in two years – more so, indeed, given he now owns a back in full working order. He is moving with feline efficiency and getting to wide balls that last season were beyond his reach or ambition.

It was in the quality of his considered shot-making that Murray impressed. His crosscourt forehand was lethal, especially from mid-court after moving his opponent deep. When he needed to, he pinned Matosevic to the baseline with his viciously undercut backhand, and the rehabilitated serve that he spoke about on Monday clicked pleasingly again, delivering him five aces, with just a couple of double faults, and hitting the spot at the first attempt 39 out of 63 times.

He broke Matosevic for the seventh time to wrap it up when the Australian shoved his final tired forehand long. All in all, a very good day at the office for the sixth seed, and a pretty grim one for the loser.