Murray back with win
Andy Murray back after a fortnight out unwell
Also In The News
|
Rafael Benitez has accepted that nothing less than three points at Old Trafford tomorrow will do if Liverpool are to have any chance of fulfilling their Premier League dream. |  |
Saturday, 14, Mar 2009 08:32
World number four Andy Murray made his return from a fever with a 7-5 6-3 win over Albert Montanes in the first round at Indian Wells.
Murray served first and had a comfortable opening game, but it was a different story in his next as a clever Montanes drop-shot gave the Spaniard an early break and he went into a 3-1 lead.
At 4-3 down, Murray came up with a couple of crunching backhand winners and a Montanes double fault saw the Scot come back to 4-4.
A double fault from Murray then saw him concede a break point opportunity to Montanes. But the US Open finalist fought back and took a 5-4 lead.
Murray then worked himself two set points in the next game, but a delightful drop-shot from his opponent and a couple of booming serves saw Montanes level things up at 5-5.
Murray was slowly finding his form and took a 6-5 lead. He worked his way to two set point opportunities with a breathtaking shot. The 21-year-old looked out of the rally on a number of occasions, but came up with a brilliant running backhand crosscourt winner and a Montanes double-fault gave Murray the set.
In the second set, Murray found himself facing a break point at 2-2 after an uncharacteristic three double-faults in a game. But the British number one once again showed his class to fight back and win the game.
Montanes' level dropped as the match wore on and four unforced errors at 3-3 gifted Murray the break and he went on to serve out the set to win it 6-3 and secure a comfortable win.