Andy Murray dumps Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round – Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2012
Second seed, Andy Murray of Great Britain, eased into the round of 16, as he defeated world number 68, Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 in the second round at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell in Spain on
Tuesday.
The Brit took one hour and 18 minutes to post the victory over his Ukrainian opponent.
Murray snatched a break in the fourth game of the first set and consolidated on it to attain a 4-1 lead. The 24-year-old did not lose his serve, capitalising on the single strike to win 6-3.
The Brit was unable to hit an ace and committed one double fault. He put in 50 percent of the first serves and won 14 of the 16 points on them. In comparison, Stakhovsky had almost similar statistics, as he smacked 67 percent of
the first deliveries, converting 13 of the 20 of them into points. The difference between the two players was the returns, as the Ukrainian claimed just two of the 16 first and seven of the 16 second reply points.
Murray kept control of the second set in his own hands from start to finish, as the Brit broke Stakhovsky in the third and fifth game, holding his serves to race to a 5-1 lead. The London, England resident allowed his opponent
to win only one more game, sealing it 6-2.
The 6ft 3in tall banged in three aces but also committed a couple of double faults in the second set. He kept his first serve percentage at 50, grabbing nine of the 11 points on them. Murray did well on the second deliveries and
returns too, as he captured seven of the 11 and eight of the 12 points on them respectively.
Talking to the reporters after the match, Murray assessed, "I thought I was hitting the ball well and I played better as the match went on."
With this win, the Brit became the eighth player who has won 20 or more matches in this season. He has also lost five and one of them came at the hands of Tomas Berdych last week, as Murray lost to the Czech in three sets 7-6(4),
2-6, 3-6 in the quarter-final at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in Monaco.
The Dunblane, Scotland born will play world number 54, Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, or 45th ranked, Robin Haase of the Netherlands, in the round of 16.
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