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Murray sets up Nalbandian clash


 

Originally published on: 13/08/10 09:52

Andy Murray survived a second-set meltdown to battle to a 6-2 0-6 6-3 victory over 15th seed Gael Monfils at the Rogers Cup.

The defending champion and fourth seed must reach the final in Toronto in order to preserve his world No.4 ranking.

And he moved within two rounds of doing so after claiming a spot in the quarter-finals following a hard-fought, topsy-turvy encounter.

Both men attacked from the outset but it was Murray who was the more consistent, breaking his French opponent in the first game before holding for a 2-0 lead.

The pair produced a series of enthralling rallies but Monfils initially made more mistakes – a shot into the net handing Murray a 3-0 advantage.

Monfils finally got on the board for 4-1, but Murray proved sharp in attack and defence, mixing up his groundstrokes to take the first set in just over 40 minutes. 

The second set looked likely to head in the same direction until Monfils forced a break, and Murray began to produce a spate of errors of his own.

Two-love quickly became 6-0 when the 23-year-old’s game deserted him, but in the decider, Murray grabbed an immediate break before the Frenchman recieved treatement on his shoulder in an injury time-out.

Reduced to a hit and hope mentality, Monfils fell 4-1 down, and though he managed a break break back, the Frenchman eventually fell to defeat in two hours and five minutes.

Next up for Murray is in-form Argentine David Nalbandian, who has beaten the Brit in both of their previous two encounters.

 

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.