Magical Murray mauls Malisse
Andy Murray cruises into third round after beating Xavier Malisse
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Thursday, 26, Jun 2008 11:19
British number one Andy Murray has cruised into the third round at Wimbledon with a straight-sets victory over Belgium's Xavier Malisse.
The 21-year-old Scot continued his rich vein of form on the All England Club courts, following his straight-sets victory over Fabrice Santoro in the first round, with an even more comfortable 6-4 6-2 6-2 win.
Malisse - who is no slouch on the grass courts as a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2002 - was outplayed throughout by Murray, who dazzled the Centre Court crowd with a number of scintillating groundstrokes.
The Briton's serve also stood up to what could have been a tough examination against one of the game's better returners.
But the Belgian rarely had a chance to utilise even his most potent weapon as Murray sent down 16 aces in all to win in a little over an hour and a half.
"In the past I've had some gruelling matches early on in the slams, not necessarily at Wimbledon, but it does take it out of you," Murray told the BBC afterwards.
"It's nice to get off the court quickly and conserve energy for the next round."
In round three, Murray will face German Tommy Haas after he knocked out 23rd seed Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-4 6-4 6-3.