World No.1 Andy Murray experience little difficulty during his 6-3, 6-0, 6-2, win over Russian teenager Andrey Rublev.
Facing the 2014 French Open boys’ champion on the Rod Laver Arena, Murray handed the 19-year-old qualifier a stern lesson. Throughout the 96-minute encounter, Murray didn’t face a single break point threat as he broke the Russian on six out of seven occasions. Rublev did occasionally display glimmers of his talent, but they were overshadowed by Murray’s dominance in the match.
Murray’s only blunder in the encounter was caused by himself. Playing from the baseline during a rally, a tentative slip prompted the top seed to put his hand straight to his ankle. As his camp watched in apprehension when a medic was called to evaluate his ankle, Murray was able to shake off the scare on route to the one-sided win.
“It’s just a little bit sore I think, not too serious.” Murray said after his win. “I definitely rolled it a bit, so I will make sure I get some ice on it tonight.”
“I was moving ok towards the end, so that is a positive.”
“I can put weight on it, but it is sore. I’m sure it will be fine.”
Despite Murray’s one-sided win, he was full of envy about his younger opponent, tipping him to reach the top 100 this season. Rublev is currently at a ranking high of 152nd in the world and has one Challenger title to his name.
“He hits a big ball and that is exciting to watch.” Murray said of Rublev. “He’s goes for it. When he gets a little bit stronger, a little bit more experience, he is going to keep shooting up the rankings. I expect him to make a big breakthrough this year into the top 100.”
Awaiting Murray in the third round will be Sam Querrey, who stunned Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last year. The American booked his place after defeating another rising star, Alex De Minaur, in straight sets.
“It will be a tough one.” Murray said about the upcoming match. “He’s got a big game and goes for it. Big serve, takes a lot of chances with his forehand – so it will be a tricky one.”
“He had a big win against Novak in the third round at Wimbledon, so I will need to be on my game and play some good tennis to get through.
Murray has a commanding 6-1 head-to-head record against Querrey, winning their four most recent matches.
