On a rainy day in New York Andy Murray benefited from the protection of the newly built roof on the Arthur Ashe stadium during his 6-4, 6-1, 6-4, win over Marcel Granollers.
Facing a player who has never progressed beyond the fourth round of a major tournament, Murray was pushed to his limits during certain parts of the match by an inspired Granollers. During the opening stages the Wimbledon champion raced to a 5-2 lead but failed to convert a trio of set points as his opponent clawed his way back. It wasn’t until Murray’s seventh attempt that he was able to clinch one set he lead. From that moment onwards, Murray took control of the match during his testing two-and-a-half hour encounter.
“I was creating a lot of chances, just made a few errors towards the end of the first set.” Murray said about his performance to Eurosport. “ Maybe I was a bit sloppy with my feet, but I will learn from that.”
“I played much better in the second set, started to put a bit more (seed) on my second serve. Started to get some easy second shots.”
The second round win has left Murray with something to think about following his below-par serving performance. Throughout the encounter, the Brit only managed to get 43% of his first serves in. A usually dismal figure for Murray.
“I won a lot of points behind my first serve. I would have liked to make a few more first serves but it is a little bit different serving under the roof, a little heavier conditions.” The world No.2 explained.
One reason as to why Murray struggled at times in the match was due to the deafening sound inside the stadium. As the rain pounded the roof of the venue, both players struggled to hear the ball bounce.
“It was so loud, I never played like that before.” Murray said. “You can’t hear the ball at all. Tennis players do pick up the sound of the ball a to read the spins a little bit earlier and the speed of the serve.”
“ It makes it tricky and that’s something you need to get used to.” He added.
Awaiting Murray in the third round will be either France’s Gilles Simon or Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi.
Video highlights (via Eurosport)
