Murray beats Mayer, faces Mayer

 

Originally published on: 31/08/13 00:00

Top seed Novak Djokovic also booked his spot in the last 32 with a comfortable win over Benjamin Becker, while Tommy Haas and Tomas Berdych also progressed.

Up next for Murray in the third round is another Mayer – Germany's Florian Mayer – after another tough assignment on the Louis Armstrong stadium. With Leonardo Mayer’s forehand connecting time and again in the sweltering conditions, the world No. 3 found himself scrambling on the defensive as he dropped his first set of the tournament.

"It was a very tough match. We both ran a lot and it was very humid," Murray said.

"I was serving better as the match went on. He's a big hitter, and I had to defend a lot. It made for an entertaining match. He's had quite a few injuries the last few years – he's a very tough player."

Murray fired himself up at the start of the fourth set and despite some brutal hitting from Mayer the Scot broke in game four for a 3-1 lead. With that, the Argentinian’s challenge finally faded and Murray closed out in style.

Florian Mayer set up a meeting with Murray after dispatching American qualifier Donald Young 7-5 6-3 6-4.

World No. 1 Djokovic overcame an early test to see off Becker after saving two set points in the first set before coming through 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-2 to set up a third-round showdown with Joao Sousa, who needed five sets to see off Jarkko Niemenen.

"Today was tricky conditions and the first hour I wasn't able to play as well as wanted,” Djokovic insisted. “After that I felt more confident."

Fifth seed Berdych didn’t have it all his own way but still posted a straight-sets win over Denis Kudla 7-6(3) 7-6(3) 6-3. Evergreen Tommy Haas also needed a tiebreak to seal a straight-sets win, beating Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3 6-4 7-6(3).

Mikhail Youzhny overcame a potentially tricky contest with Alexandr Dolgopolov with a minimum of fuss, posting a 7-5 6-1 6-3 win.

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