Murray wary of battling Serra

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 13:01

In contrast to Murray, who has serenely negotiated his path into the last 32 with a couple of straight-set victories, Serra has battled through the hard way in five sets. The Frenchman upset 28th seed Jurgen Melzer in a five-set marathon to start his campaign before going the full distance again to beat Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 3-6 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7/4) 7-5.

“He’s been around the 50 (ranking) mark for quite a long time,” Murray said. “He’s a solid player. He’s had two very long matches so far and he has saved a couple of match points. So he’s going to go for it. I’ll have to make sure I’m on my game.”

There was little for Murray to be concerned with after his second-round victory over Marc Gicquel, except for again serving a low percentage of first serves into play.

Gicquel, however, only broke once and while he took Murray to deuce in four of six service games in the middle of the match it did little more than slow the Scot’s progress to an inevitable win.

“Yeah, how terrible,” Murray smiled after being asked about those service games.

“I mean, this is the highest level of the sport. That’s going to happen.

“I’ve played two matches and got broken twice – once in each match. So I’m reasonably happy with that.

“I served better (against Gicquel) than I did the first day. I’m sure I’ll serve better in the next round.”

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