Murray comes through tough Massu encounter
Andy Murray forced to work hard for win
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Monday, 30, Mar 2009 10:10
Andy Murray has reached the fourth round of the Miami Masters after coming through 6-4 6-4 in a hard-fought match against Nicolas Massu.
Massu showed his expertise from the back of the court as a number of punishing forehand groundstrokes saw the Chilean break early and take a 2-0 lead.
Murray managed to work a break point of his own in the next game, but Massu was playing like a man possessed and more powerful shots from the forehand wing so him go into a 3-0 advantage.
But the British number one eventually worked-out that he needed to keep the ball away from the Massu forehand as much as possible and as a result broke back and got to 3-3.
Murray struggled to match the power shown by his opponent, but he still had his great defensive qualities and that came to the fore at 40-40 on the Massu serve. The Scot looked to be out of the point numerous times, but got the ball back into play and eventually won the point and the game.
Things looked to be back on track for Murray, but he was punished for some feeble serving. The world number four could only get 40% of his first serves in during the first set and Massu thumped back a series of returns to break back to 4-4.
Massu then looked to be heading for a 5-4 lead as he was 30-15 on his serve, but he then completely lost his serve and three double faults gifted Murray the game. A comfortable service game saw Murray take the first set.
The Chilean was unable to clear his head after losing his serve so easily at a crucial time at the end of the first set and another double fault and a couple of unforced errors handed Murray a break at the start of the second set.
Murray consolidated the break and went on to take a 3-1 lead as Massu became more wayward with his groundstrokes. A terrific forehand topspin lob helped Murray to break Massu for a fifth time in the match and take a commanding 4-1 lead.
Murray served for the match at 5-2 but Massu managed to break back. The 2004 Olympic champions suddenly found a new lease of life and had break points on the Murray serve at 5-4 with the Scot once again serving for the match. Murray though fought back to take the match on his second match point.