Murray through despite testing French Open tie
WORLD No3 Andy Murray admitted that he needed to be at his most belligerent in order to secure a four-set victory over Portugal’s Joao Sousa in the second round of the French Open yesterday.
Murray battled through and recorded a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 success against Sousa and will now face Nick Kyrgios in the third round tomorrow, a player he beat to reach the semi-final of the Australian Open in January. Kyrgios will have enjoyed an extra three days rest following the enforced withdrawal of his opponent and British No4 Kyle Edmund through injury, although Murray was relieved to avoid an elongated second round clash.
“In the second set and at the start of the third he raised his game a lot,” said Murray.
“I had to tell myself to get through and weather the storm and hope his level would drop because he was playing extremely well. Fortunately I managed to take a few break points and turn it around.”
There was no such joy for British No1 Heather Watson in the women’s competition as she crashed out at the second round stage following a straight-sets 6-2, 6-4 defeat to Sloane Stephens of the Untied States.
Nine-time winner Rafael Nadal and world No1 Novak Djokovic remained on course for a quarter-final showdown after defeating Nicolas Almagro and Gilles Muller respectively in straight sets.