Murray gazumps Gicquel for third-round spot
Andy Murray gazumps Marc Gicquel for third-round spot at Australian Open
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Wednesday, 20, Jan 2010 02:18
By Alistair Potter.
Britain's Andy Murray secured a second straightforward success at the Australian Open with a three-set defeat of Frenchman Marc Gicquel.
In blustery conditions on one of Melbourne Park's outside courts, Murray looked relatively untroubled - as he did in his first-round match against qualifier Kevin Anderson - and strolled into the next round in less than two hours, 6-1 6-4 6-3.
Gicquel posed more of a threat to Murray than the Scot's previous opponent, but again the fifth seed showed the variety in his game to progress with relative ease.
He took the first set in double-quick time, although struggled with his serve at times in the second as he was forced to come back from 0-40 down.
However, after breaking serve again and clinching a 2-0 lead, Murray looked on the brink of an easy win when he gained a crucial break of serve in the third game of the third set.
Gicquel proved he still had some fight left by squaring the match again, taking advantage of a poor service game from Murray.
But the Britain broke back straight away and sealed the match with another game against serve, taking his third match point when a Gicquel forehand went long.