Andy Murray sometimes struggles to hit a convincing rhythm early in grand slam tournaments but, after a hesitant start on Monday, he goes into the third round against Sam Querrey on Friday looking as dominant as he did when stringing together 28 wins in a row on his rise to No1 in the world.
He made the most of a heaven-sent opportunity against the little-known Russian teenager and world No152 Andrey Rublev, to win 6-3, 6-0, 6-2, with a slight chill lurking in the cloudless night skies after a couple of days of killing heat.
Murray advances in a tournament he loves but has yet to conquer in five losing finals with an imperious dismissal of an opponent who did not look old enough to be out this late unaccompanied, but whose reputation for pugnacity preceded him. Fernando Verdasco, the friendly Spaniard, is among those who have been irritated in a match by the brashness of Rublev, who has sparred under the tutelage of his father, a respected amateur boxer in the old Soviet Union.
Murray, a keen student of pugilism, had not heard of the father, but, as he does for every match, acquainted himself with the strengths and weakness of his opponent and duly dismantled his game in a little over an hour-and-a-half in Rod Laver Arena.
He crumpled behind the baseline on his right ankle in the third game of the third set and had the trainer on to check for damage, of which there appeared to be little. His serving percentages were respectable and he did not give Rublev a break opportunity, which gave the match something of an exhibition feel.
Serving for the match, Murray graciously offered to replay the first point after a yell from the crowd caused the Russian to stop, assuming a fault had been called; that is the way knights of the realm roll. Rublev appreciated the gesture and finished with a bit of a flourish to force deuce but shoved his last backhand long.
“There’s something about this kid that people gravitate to,” John McEnroe observed of Rublev. He is usually right. We will hear more of him, hopefully without a subtext of aggression. He was charming throughout and appreciated the reception on his departure.
Murray said his ankle was just a little bit stiff after he had warmed down but added: “It’s not too bad. I was moving fine on it.”
As for his performance, he said: “I did pretty good. It was better than the first match. I was hitting the ball a bit cleaner, hitting through the court more. More winners. I was able to get myself up to the net more. I served way better, too. My second serve was harder than the other day. Most things were better, but I can still improve.”
He is in prime shape, physically fresh and mentally alert before the tougher challenges ahead. He faces Querrey next, whose most recent favour to Murray was beating Novak Djokovic in the first week of Wimbledon. It cleared the way for his second title there and contributed significantly to the minor crash of the Serb for the rest of the season, which also facilitated Murray’s rise to the top of the rankings.
Querrey, who earlier finished strongly after a slow start to wreck the home debut of the exciting Australian teenager Alex De Minaur in three sets, said of his third-round challenge: “Whether he is No1 or No2, it doesn’t really make a difference. He is Andy Murray, he has got an unbelievable record, he is on top of his game right now so that is going to be tough. I am going to have to play like I did in the second and third sets today for the entire match in order to have a shot.”
He said of his win over Djokovic: “That let me know I can do it. I have one other win over Murray in 2010 in a final in LA but I have got a handful of losses to him.”
“Sam’s got a big game, takes a lot of chances with his forehand,” Murray said. “I’ll need to be on my game.”
