ATP Tour - Murray brushes aside Ljubicic

Eurosport - Wed, 11 Feb 15:15:00 2009

Andy Murray crushed Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-2, pouncing on the veteran's mistakes to earn a first career victory at the Rotterdam Open on Tuesday.

TENNIS 2009 Australian Open Andy Murray - 0

Murray's only miscue in the first-round meeting came as he held a 5-0 lead in the second set, double-faulting on a match point to let the 29-year-old Ljubcic back in at 1-5.

But two games later, the Scot second seed restored order with the win which took his record on the season to 9-1, including a January title in Doha.

"I had lost two of three matches against him, so I was expecting a tough match," said the world number four. "But he had so many errors that it made things easier on me."

Murray will in Thursday's second round face Italian Andreas Seppi, who knocked out Rafael Nadal here a year ago.

"If I serve like I serve did today (seven aces, four breaks of serve) there are not a lot of guys who can beat me.

"I lost to Seppi the only time I played him (Nottingham, 2006) and he beat Nadal here. I'm expecting a difficult match."

Elsewhere, Gael Monfils, seeded fifth, won his first-round match as Swiss Stephane Bohli quit injured, 6-4 1-0. Spain's sixth seed David Ferrer shook off a long trip from South Africa for a win over Jurgen Melzer 3-6 7-6 (4) 7-5.

Monfils, who hurt his wrist and quit a match in Melbourne, said that he felt rusty after only three days of practice.

"I have barely picked up a racket," said the Frenchman. "I didn't feel 100 per cent, I could feel the lack of training.

"But everyone is in the same situation after not practising much after the Australian Open. Jo-Wilfried (Tsonga, seeded seventh) is the exception after winning Johannesburg and coming here with a trophy.

"It could have been worse for me, I felt better the longer the match went on."

Bulgaria's junior juggernaut Grigor Dimitrov lined up a possible meeting with top seed Nadal after the 17-year-old knocked Czech Tomas Berdych out 4-6 6-3 6-4.

It's now down to Nadal to do his part when he opens on Wednesday against Italy's Simone Bolelli.

The 487th-ranked wild card entry Dimitrov, who holds the Wimbledon and US Open junior crowns, will be guided in his quest by new coach Peter Lundgren.

Dimitrov is sure that it is the Spaniard whom he will be facing in the next round.

"It feels good to be playing him," said the son of a tennis coach father and volleyball player mother. "I've practised a lot with him.

"He's never given me any tips, but just working with him and watching his game is tips enough - his practice sessions are crazy."

Nadal will be back on court little more than a week after lifting his sixth Grand Slam title with a win over Roger Federer, his fifth in succession against the Swiss.

AFP

Comment 8 - 27 of 27

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  1. doubt it!

    From doubt.it.man, on Thu 12 Feb 2:08PM

  2. anyone from briton that dosent support andy murry are­ w--kers get a grip.Best scots player by far.

    From jasper, on Thu 12 Feb 1:07PM

  3. jexbj
    Your posts are soooooooooooooooo­ Creepy...........
    ALISON M

    From Nicholas, on Thu 12 Feb 9:56AM

  4. jexbj
    Your posts are soooooooooooooooo­ Creepy...........

    From Nicholas, on Thu 12 Feb 9:56AM

  5. Oh dear neil 9365, you really are sad little englishman­ :)
    does it really eat you up that badly about Andy­ being the best player to come from these shores! Since­ the great Fred Perry??
    He will win Wimbledon sooner­ rather than later in mho. And when he does please feel­ free to crawl back under the rock you crawl out from!­ With your bigoted little mind set
    the only choker is­ you my friend, have you even held a tennis racket? He­ is class, and will do Scotland and UK proud.

    From Richard, on Wed 11 Feb 11:16PM

  6. He's a sourfaced loser who wins nowt

    From Loz, on Wed 11 Feb 11:15PM

  7. To all of those who berate Britains number ONE - he has­ done more for British Tennis than any other person­ alive. Why does he not get full backing from ALL Brits­ !! ??

    From Morton M, on Wed 11 Feb 10:48PM

  8. re comment 13,,,when he was interviewed at start he­ said anti english things,so what do you expect people­ are going to say,plus he has proved us all right he is­ an arrogant @#$% i love it when people want him to­ loose,i would like something more to happen to him than­ that so we never have to hear about him again.he should­ be called scotish calling him british gives the feeling­ that we all surport him,like the pole they did on the­ net 87% do not like him,bet there is even scots in­ there.

    From jack, on Wed 11 Feb 8:35PM

  9. STRANGE PICTURE,IT LOOKS LIKE HE LOST HIS MATCH...Jess­ X

    From Jeremy, on Wed 11 Feb 12:33PM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    gobby jock... can't wait till he loses and we all­ know he's a choker. he can only win the tournamnets­ the top players are not so interested in.. ha ha ha­ can't wait.."murray crashes again"..

    From neil9365, on Wed 11 Feb 12:32PM

  11. Didnt see your first round match but will be watching­ on Thursday - great start. Wish you could have had a­ better Aussie Open but your time will come!

    From fredevans2003, on Wed 11 Feb 11:28AM

  12. E Ljubo, Ljubo, you're all washed up. A shame, you­ had promise...

    From Denis P, on Wed 11 Feb 7:46AM

  13. Well done Andy you make me proud to be English keep it­ up.........
    Alison M.

    From Nicholas, on Tue 10 Feb 11:57PM

  14. Who cares whether he is British or Scottish, he fights­ under the Union Jack, so we should all support him.­ From English man living in Scotland. Best of both­ worlds :D

    From redimaster, on Tue 10 Feb 10:47PM

  15. Very British and proud to be Scottish as are our­ English neighbours proud to be English, i will watch in­ disgust as a slagging match starts to take place and­ someone with more intellect than me can bring you to­ the level you belong, NO PLACE FOR RANCID PARACITES­ LIKE YOU.

    From scotlandthebrave1314, on Tue 10 Feb 10:47PM

  16. HERE WE GO AGAIN WITH THE SCOTISH/ENGLISH THING.
    GET­ OVER IT WE LOVE HIM AND WE ARE ENGLISH.

    From lindatan, on Tue 10 Feb 9:49PM

  17. Hope Nadal wins.

    Rafa Fan

    From brownt2002, on Tue 10 Feb 9:39PM

  18. Well done, Andy! :D
    Just....please start serving out­ matches the first time round! It will save me a lot of­ angst! lol

    From CATHERINE, on Tue 10 Feb 9:33PM

  19. andyb don't play like JJ as she believes in playing­ the tours and not GS where stamina matters. murray is­ lacking in his capacity to meet up with GS requirement.­ Playing at Masters level of ATP one week events has­ it's limitations

    From Augustine A, on Tue 10 Feb 9:01PM

  20. the pathetic english will no doubt rubbish the win

    From REALIST, on Tue 10 Feb 9:00PM
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