Wimbledon - Magical Murray marches through

Eurosport - Fri, 26 Jun 13:52:00 2009

World number three Andy Murray booked his place in the third round of Wimbledon with a clinical 6-2 7-5 6-3 win over Ernests Gulbis.

Andy Murray of Britain returns the ball to Ernests Gulbis of Latvia during their match at Wimbledon 
REUTERS - 0

Murray rarely looked troubled by the young Latvian and wrapped up the win with a stunning cross-court forehand winner after just 88 minutes.

"Gulbis had a chance to break at the start, but after that I relaxed and then served really well for the rest of the match," said Murray. "I didn't give him many opportunities and I felt very comfortable."

The third seed was forced to defend break points in just the second game of the match but came through unscathed before breaking in the third game when Gulbis slapped a forehand long of the baseline.

The Latvian looked increasingly out of his depth as the set went on and a shocking backhand volley which he dumped into the bottom of the net gifted Murray a second break in the seventh game.

In contrast Murray looked untroubled and quickly wrapped up the first set with an inch-perfect drop shot that completely confounded his opponent.

Gulbis did begin to find his rhythm in the second set, particularly on his serve as he approached an 80 per cent first serve success rate.

But Murray was content to bide his time, eventually breaking in the 11th game when Gulbis dumped another forehand into the net, before sealing the set with an ace down the centre of the court.

The third set was one-way traffic once again as Murray lifted his performance up a level, breaking in the third game with a cross-court, backhand passing winner.

Murray then broke again in the ninth game with the forehand passing shot winner from the baseline to set up a third round clash with Serbia's 30th seed Viktor Troicki, who battled past Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-7(5) 6-0 1-6 6-3 7-5 .

Pippa Davis / Eurosport

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  1. "andy will have to beat Gonzalez,and this time he­­ will have to dictate"
    lol no

    From Hans G, on Sun 28 Jun 12:21AM
  2. "people will say he is garbage and all that­ if he­ looses in the semis,but it would be a great­ result in­ my opinion.If you improve on the previous­ year ,how­ can it be a failure"
    uh, horrible logic. please­ tell me how can a quarter final be a great result for­ nadal in RG next year?

    From Hans G, on Sun 28 Jun 12:10AM
  3. Recently, I discovered a hot place – SeekTall Co m --­ where many sexy tall singles who like sports and­ chatting there. I'm an open minded girl from UK, I­ also like discuss sports and love with tall guys on it.

    From robomile10, on Fri 26 Jun 7:10PM
  4. That sounds weird saying Fed is the underdog!! Same to­ you - enjoy the tennis ahead. Cheers!

    From wendy, on Fri 26 Jun 4:29PM
  5. Heidi, maybe you are!
    But the underdog nowadays is­ Federer, he's number 2 and Nadal number 1:)
    All the­ best, enjoy

    From YiannisP, on Fri 26 Jun 3:36PM
  6. Yiannis: I get what you're saying about the pauses­ for reflection etc, however on the flip side of the­ coin, the other people who behave like this are­ politicians and people who are not really saying what­ they believe to be true, only what they want people to­ hear. As I can't chose between their tennis, I am­ choosing on personality and also I like the underdog­ (typical Brit!!). Hey, I'm moody! Maybe I'm a­ genius and I just don't know it yet...!!!

    From wendy, on Fri 26 Jun 3:21PM
  7. He doesn't seem fake to me at all, he just looks­ like he's thinking and analysing what he's­ about to say, fast. As intelligent people will do when­ journalists are trying to make them say something that­ they later take out of context and make it provocative­ in order to sell. You might see this as fake, arrogant,­ whatever. Nadal is a simpler kind of guy, he­ doesn't look like he dares to speak his mind as­ much as Federer, instead he always goes for the­ humblest and less provocative answer just to ne on the­ safe side. If you find this more likeable, genuine,­ natural, good for you:)
    But besides all that, most­ geniouses are more "moody" that us normal­ people...

    From YiannisP, on Fri 26 Jun 12:34PM
  8. Well done Andy Murry, isn't he mint! I watched him­ yesturday and he seemed to be in control of his own­ game, playing some wicked shots. There also seems to­ be an air of quiet expectation from us Brits to his­ chances of winning the championship. We have been so­ disapointed with Henman and Rudeski, even though they­ gave everything to win, that we, well I am, just­ enjoying seeing him win the rounds. I really hope he­ wins and becomes Wimbledon champ, but I won't slag­ him off if he doesn't.

    From cloud95, on Fri 26 Jun 12:16PM
  9. Siskra: it's funny that having read your last­ posting, it made me realise that the reason I never­ know who to choose between Nadal and Federer is because­ of what you said - I have doubts about Fed off court. I­ think he is very fake in interviews - fake smile, etc­ so I don't believe what he says. And ultimately,­ because of that, I think that's why I cheered on­ Rafa last Wimbledon - he's such a great guy with­ great tennis so he's got everything. And people say­ Murray's miserable - have they ever taken a real­ look at Fed? He's mega moody.

    From wendy, on Fri 26 Jun 11:58AM
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    From WWW.PREMIERSHIP.ALTERVISTA.ORG, on Fri 26 Jun 11:54AM
  11. Pc_alcock - your nicked!

    From Gerry, on Fri 26 Jun 10:31AM
  12. Post 9: Rc_alcock,all your disgusting comments posted­ on my behalf with my username(which you nicked)have­ been reported.Via Yahoo,you're very likely to be­ sued thanks to all the proof gathered.Carry­ on,you're sawing off the branch you're sitting­ on.../You guys,"report abuse" rc_alcock,we­ cannot tolerate this troublemaker here any longer.

    From hadjeseles, on Fri 26 Jun 10:15AM
  13. You are right Jimmy, it's all about our­ preferences. I am Nadal's fan, because I like his­ passion, determination and GATS on the court, as well­ as his modesty and maturity of the court. I also like­ Federer but ONLY on the court, I have serious doubts­ about him of the court. Finally I don't like­ exaggeration, bowing and "servility" towards­ all type of so called perfection. But, we all different­ and every opinion should be accepted and respected

    From siskra83, on Fri 26 Jun 10:12AM
  14. Well, siskra83, since the money doesn' to go in my­ pocket I don't really care who wins or where he­ comes from. I have a few favorites, but only because I­ like the way they play. I don't like Fed as a­ person but I like to see him play (without waistcoat,­ preferably). And I like Nadal a lot also. And many­ others. That's all. I don't see why i should­ support Murray because he is British. I want to watch a­ spectacular game, not a game where Murray is in­ constant agony lest he lose a point.

    From Jimmy, on Fri 26 Jun 9:42AM
  15. Jimmy, I agree with you that Murray's ­ "monotonous " play with lack of passion and­ risk doesn't "force" many of us (me­ included) to root for him. Comparing him with Gonzo,­ Andy is less "watchable ". On the other side,­ attractive Fernando usually exaggerates and due to it,­ he is self destructive (overdose of water is not­ healthy, too)

    From siskra83, on Fri 26 Jun 9:17AM
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    Do you love traveling and have some­­ experience? Just find me out.

    From robomile01, on Fri 26 Jun 8:54AM
  17. Scott, I agree that all he needs is a break, but then­ it's also all his opponent needs and what everyone­ else needs. What's clever about winning only on­ your serve? As for beating Blake, even I could beat­ Blake the way he's been playing recently and my­ ranking is in the lower thousands. Blake got to the­ final because Roddick had an injury. I' d really­ like to see Murray waiting for Roddick to make a­ mistake and not taking any chances. You don't win­ Wimbledon by capitalizing on your opponents errors. You­ have to force them to make those errors. And yes, maybe­ he plays exactly as he should, since he's been­ winning so far, but what I am saying is that this kind­ of game is neither exciting nor enjoyable. That's­ why I am saying it's a joy to watch Gonzalez, who­ is all over the place, charging like a bull and giving­ it all he's got.

    From Jimmy, on Fri 26 Jun 8:44AM
  18. Rob I take it you are English he maybe arrogant he­ maybe is glum on court but he will always be better­ than Tim Henman (Who I liked and I am scottish) so dont­ support him if dont want too but if you want BRITISH­ tennis to get better he is our best hope

    Come on Andy­ do the country proud

    From kyser1964, on Fri 26 Jun 8:13AM
  19. if by magic u mean waiting for ur oponnent to hit the­ net then u hit the motherload. Murray's game is a­ shame to all wimbledon legends strating with Fred Perry­ and finishing with Fed. He plays soo defensive it makes­ u sick. How can anybody watch his game and say­ it's magic??? U could say it's consistent or­ inteligent maybe but magic??? Where's the magic­ when all u do is to return the ball and hope the other­ makes a mistake.Looks at the statsGulbis who lost­ clearly made more winners than Murray even if he lost­ in straight sets. When Murray will playa guy who has a­ decent procentage at unforced errors he will lose. U­ can't play like this on grass it's just wrong.

    From Manutza, on Fri 26 Jun 8:10AM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Its a long way to Tiperarri - lets see when his­ arrognace in the match will undo him.

    From Rob, on Fri 26 Jun 7:51AM
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