Murray edges through

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:28

The new world number three needed two hours and eight minutes before seeing off his Italian opponent 7-6 (11/9) 6-4 to set up a third-round meeting with Spaniard Tommy Robredo, the 16th seed.

Murray had only previously met Bolelli once before, coincidentally at the same stage of this tournament seven months ago, and in that match the Scot was cruising to victory at 6-0 and 2-1 up when the Italian retired.

However, that triumph came on hard court and now, with the event having switched to Murray’s less-favoured clay surface at the newly-built La Caja Magica, the Briton found it a lot harder going against the same opponent.

All Murray’s 11 career titles so far have come on hard courts and he admitted on Monday he needed to improve on clay, where in his last appearance he lost 1-6 6-3 7-5 defeat to Juan Monaco in the second round of the Rome Masters a fortnight ago.

Murray enjoyed a happier outing in the Spanish capital on Tuesday, but he was made to sweat by Bolelli, especially during the first set which lasted an hour and 17 minutes after going to a tie-break.

The 21-year-old was then left rubbing his right knee in agony in the fifth game after colliding with a hoarding in front of his seat as he attempted to reach a Bolelli drop volley, but the British number one was soon able to continue without any apparent problems.

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