Murray overcomes Blake battle
Andy Murray beat James Blake to book his place in the Paris Masters third round
Thursday, 12, Nov 2009 12:47
By inthenews.co.uk staff.
World number four Andy Murray has dodged a potential hurdle in his first match at the Paris Masters, beating James Blake on a final-set tiebreak.
Murray was pushed all the way by the American, who is currently ranked 41 in the world after tumbling out of the top ten since January, but eventually prevailed 6-3 6-7 7-6.
Despite struggling to break down Blake, who competed well after giving up a break of serve to lose the first set, Murray came up with the big points when it mattered.
The second and third sets featured no breaks whatsoever and although Blake edged the first decider Murray made sure that he sealed the second 7-4 to book a third-round spot against Radek Stepanek.
A win against the Czech world number 13 means the Scot would reach the quarter-finals of the Paris event for the third straight year.