Murray battles back to overcome Melzer in Indian Wells
Sunday, 16 Mar 2008 21:20
Andy Murray is looking to improve his displays on the American harcourts for the US Open in August
Andy Murray survived a scare before beating Jurgen Melzer 3-6 6-3 6-3 in the second round of the Indian Wells Masters.
The Scot, who received a bye in the first round, trailed 4-0 in the opening set after a lacklustre start.
Murray, who reached the semi-finals last year, got himself into the match by winning his service games but was unable to break Melzer who sealed the first set comfortably.
The 20-year-old, hampered by a back injury, raced into a 3-0 lead in the second set before being broken by the Austrian.
But Britain's number one hit back with a break straight away and closed the set out on his own serve to force a decider.
Murray looked in cruise control in the final set and broke twice on his way to clinching victory, with Melzer loosing his cool after venting his anger at the umpire over several line calls.
Murray also swore loudly in frustration at one shot and complained to the umpire when he felt net sensors did not pick up a let.
The Dunblane teenager will face giant Croat Ivo Karlovic in the next round, and is seeded to face Andy Roddick in the fourth round and then Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.
Murray is the only Briton left in the singles, although his brother Jamie lines up alongside Belarus' Max Mirnyi in the doubles.
The Scot admitted he was shocked at the quality of Melzer's returns.
"He was just hitting clean winners and coming behind my second serves a lot," Murray told Sky Sports.
"But once I started to get into the match a bit more and make a few first serves and get a bit more kick on my second serve, he started to miss.
"He wasn't able to come forward as much because I changed my tactics a bit and played more aggressive.
"I won the majority of my points after that and that's what I was most pleased about. Even though his tactics were good early on I managed to turn it around and was doing to him what he was doing to me."