Andy Murray defeats Radek Stepanek; advances at Monte Carlo Masters
Britain's Andy Murray defeated Czech Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters 2011 being held at the Monte Carlo Country Club in France. Murray extended his match win tally to nine with a two setter
victory over his Czech opponent to move into the third round of the tournament.
Monte Carlo Masters is the third event at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and 105th edition of the tournament since its inception. Big names on tennis circuit like defending champion and world number one Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer,
David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych and many others will be going up against each other for the Champions trophy and 1000 ATP points.
Murray, ranked fourth in the world, was once ranked as high as second in the ATP (Association of tennis Professionals) singles rankings list. He is one of the most skilled and acknowledged players, approaching the tournament for
the fifth time. Stepanek on the other hand put in his appearance for the eighth time, being ousted for four times from the second round. Luckily, he managed to make it this far this time, though he lost in straight sets.
Murray faced early exits in the opening matches in each of his last three tournaments since his Australian Open final defeat. However, the Brit looks to turn things around with his straight sets victory over the Czech.
Looking over the match, it was held that Murray had a much more vigorous battle on his hands. Murray broke his opponent twice in the match to win in straight sets. The Brit was too experienced for the Czech to handle, securing
a breadstick win in the first set.
Murray hammered a total of seven aces and 60 percent on first serves, attaining a whopping 79 percent win on first serves and 58 percent on second serves. Stepanek on the other hand hit a better serve of 64 percent but unfortunately
lagged behind with 57 percent on them. After winning the match, Murray has secured his lead to 4-1 against Stepanek.
Murray took the match away with majority of scores on stats, dropping just five games for a 6-1, 6-4 victory that took him through to play French crowd favourite Gilles Simon in third round. The head-to-head score for the players
is 4-1, led by Murray. Simon is seeded sixteenth, and has ousted Albert Montanes and Thomaz Bellucci to make it this far in the tournament.
Tags: