Murray makes a meal of Mayer in Valencia
Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:49
Andy Murray posted a less than emphatic 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory over world No.64 Leonardo Mayer to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Valencia Open.
The top seed, playing this week for the first time since his fourth-round exit at the US Open, eased to a one set lead but his Argentine opponent fought back in the second set, racing to a 4-0 lead before Murray clawed one of the breaks back.
It was too late for the Scot to save the set, but a break in game six of the third was enough to seal the decider and take him through to the last eight, where he will meet Albert Montanes, who progressed following David Ferrer’s retirement with a hamstring injury.
Afterwards Murray complained of cold on-court conditions at the new venue in Valencia. “I couldn’t believe it, it was absolutely freezing,” he told reporters.
“There was a draft from one of the ends and when he [Mayer] took a toilet break, it was so cold.
“I said to the umpire at the start of the match: ‘What’s going on?’ It was freezing. For an indoor tournament, it was the coldest I’ve ever played on the tour.”
The 22-year-old, ATP World Tour Finals.
World Tour Finals hopefuls Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco are also through to the quarter-finals after straight-sets wins.
No.2 seed Davydenko, currently ranked No.7 in the world and in pole position to seal one of the two remaining qualification berths for the London event, saw off Juan Monaco 6-3 7-5, while Verdasco, occupying the No.8 spot, beat Janko Tipsarevic 6-3 6-3.
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and Andy Roddick have already qualified for the elite eight-man season finale at the O2 Arena in two weeks’ time.
Djokovic was in impressive form at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, beating world No.59 Jan Hernych 6-0 6-0 in just 52 minutes – the most emphatic victory of his career.
The Serb joins top seed and defending champion Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, where the Swiss will face Evgeny Korolev.
Federer’s compatriots Marco Chiudinelli and Stanislas Wawrinka are also through to the last eight. Chiudinelli posted a straight-sets win over Michael Lammer, while Wawrinka beat Jarkko Nieminen 7-5 2-6 6-1.
Marin Cilic also made it into the last eight, beating Victor Troicki in a match settled by three tie-breaks 7-6(7) 6-7(8) 7-6(6). Richard Gasquet also came through a tight encounter, beating John Isner 4-6 7-6(9) 6-2.
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