Andy Murray edges past David Nalbandian into the third round – Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2012
Fourth seed, Andy Murray, celebrated his 25th birthday in tough conditions, as he needed three sets to overcome former world number three, David Nalbandian of Argentina, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 in the second round at the Internazionali
BNL d’Italia in Rome, Italy on Tuesday. The Brit needed two hours and 37 minutes to win a close encounter.
Murray was near flawless in the opening set, as he began by breaking Nalbandian in the second and fourth game to build a 4-0 advantage. The British allowed his opponent to claim only one game, serving it out at 5-1.
The right-hander banged in one ace and the same number of double fault in the first set, delivering 52 percent of the first serves and claiming six of the 11 points on them. The London, England resident responded extraordinarily
to the Argentinean’s second deliveries, converting 11 of the 13 of them into points.
In the second set, Murray and Nalbandian did not lose their serve in the first nine games, taking the score to 5-4 in the Argentinean’s favour. Serving to stay in the set at 4-5, Murray saved two break points but lost the third
one to go down 4-6.
Nalbandian had a low first serve percentage of 52 in the second set but his conversion rate was stunning, as he grabbed 12 of the 13 points on them. The Argentinean did not give Murray any chance to break and availed one of the
three of his own.
Currently ranked 42nd in the world, Nalbandian got in the driving seat after breaking the Brit in the fourth game of the decider and taking a 3-1 lead. Though, Murray came back immediately to equalise the score at 3-3.
The Brit raised the level of his game in the ending moments, striking in the 11th game and holding his next serve to close it 7-5.
Murray shared that it was a good move to miss last week’s Mutua Madrid Open. He said, "It's been good to get here early for a change. From what the players have been saying to me here, it was the best decision to make. Everyone's
been applauding me for not playing, saying: 'You're much smarter than me'.
The Brit revealed that he is in short of time to get much needed match practice. He added, "Right from the start it's going to be hard. I want to try to get as many matches as possible. The French is two weeks away and everything
that you can do to prepare, every practice session, every gym session, is going to help towards that."
Murray will take on either Richard Gasquet or Paolo Lorenzi in the round of 16.
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