Seven occasions this season Andy Murray has contested a deciding set. Each time, he has produced his finest tennis within the clutch moments to win.
Lucky No. 7 got here on Thursday on the BNP Paribas Open, the place the Briton beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 within the opening spherical. Murray, who gave a glowing report on his health forward of the match, outlasted the Argentine in a three-hour, 12-minute match to arrange a second-round assembly with fifteenth seed Pablo Carreno Busta.
Murray: ‘Physically The Best I Have Felt For A Long Time’
While Murray didn’t want to save lots of a match level on this event — he saved eight final month in Doha, the place he gained 4 three-setters to achieve his 71st tour-level last — he did must struggle off two break factors at 3-4 within the last set. The 35-year-old scored the decisive break on his fifth break level of the following recreation on an Etcheverry double fault.
Ethceverry troubled Murray within the early phases along with his aggressive baseline recreation, combining energy and spin to nice impact. In an exciting first-set tie-break, he thwarted a Murray go try with quick palms on the web and later clipped the very fringe of the road with a forehand winner on set level, leaving Murray incredulous.
Murray countered with depth and precision to show the match round, ending with 28 winners to his opponent’s 36. He closed out the win along with his sixth ace of the match.
The Briton didn’t drop serve within the last two units, saving all three break factors towards him. He created 20 break probabilities on return, together with 10 within the opening set and eight within the third. Murray additionally transformed on his solely two break factors within the second set to power a deciding set.
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Source web site: www.atptour.com
