Murray safely into US Open fourth round

Originally published on: 02/09/13 00:00

The world No.3 got the better of Florian Mayer 7-6(2) 6-2 6-2 in humid conditions on Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach the last 16.

Murray started slowly, and appeared to be at a loss of how to crack his German opponent, but nicked the all-important tiebreak to take the opening set. From there, it was plain sailing for the Wimbledon champion, who streaked to victory in a shade under two hours.

“They were very tough conditions and I was struggling to breathe for much of the match,” Murray said. "Florian plays a lot of strange shots so it’s hard to get a rhythm. I started the second set well. I started hitting the ball a little bit cleaner, was more aggressive after that and I finished it well.”

Into the fourth round for a sixth time in eight years, Murray will face Denis Istomin after the world No.65 upset No.20 seed Andreas Seppi 6-3 6-42-6 3-6 6-1.

Should he successfully negotiate his way past Istomin, Murray is likely to meet Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals in a rematch of last year’s semi-final. Berdych, who will take on ninth seed Stanislas Wawrinka in his fourth-round encounter, powered past Julien Benneteau 6-0 6-3 6-2.

Novak Djokovic is projected to meet Murray in the semi-finals, and the world No. 1 faced little resistance from Portuguese Joao Sousa as he triumphed 6-0 6-2 6-2.

Lleyton Hewitt, conqueror of 2009 champion Juan Martin Del Potro, reached the fourth round with a 6-3 7-6(5) 3-6 6-1 victory over Evgeny Donskoy. Hewitt will face Mikhail Youzhny in the last 16 after the Russian upset No.12 seed Tommy Haas 6-3 6-2 2-6 6-3.

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here