Andy Murray outlasts Ivo Karlovic to move to round two – Rakuten Japan Open 2012
Top seeded player from Great Britain, Andy Murray, made a successful start to his title defence, as he defeated Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic in straight sets 7-6(7), 6-4 in the first round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships
in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Murray maintained his unbeaten record against the former Top-15 player, who received a lucky loser entry into the event, after Gael Monfils pulled out with the recurring knee injury.
The British number one was playing his first match, after capturing his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open. The 25-year-old is bidding for his fourth title of the season, as he also won Brisbane International and London Olympics.
Coming back to his first round encounter with Karlovic at this event, there was nothing to separate between these two players in the first set, as they kept on holding their serves and levelled the proceedings at 6-6 to force a
tie-breaker. An intense fight continued even after that, as both players went on equal terms till 7-7 but then Murray managed to win two straight points and seal it 7-6(7).
In the second set, Murray and Karlovic held their serve in the first nine games to take the score to 5-4 in favour of the former. The Croatian contestant could not hold at that moment and threw away the second set 4-6.
Murray served brilliantly throughout the contest, hitting nine aces and not committing even a single double fault. The right-hander clinched 29 of the 33 first and 21 of the 26 second delivery points. The London, England resident
capitalised on one of the six break points he received in the match.
The Brit said after the match, "Playing against him you know it is going to be uncomfortable. He is a tricky player. Mentally I feel OK. It's always hard coming into your first match after a few weeks of not playing, and my opponent
made it tougher still. But I came back [into the match] when I needed to. I'm pleased with how I feel physically, even if my body might be a little bit stiff."
He added, "I don't want to say I was obsessed with grand slams, but winning one was so important that I was always looking ahead and bolting on to the next grand slam.”
In the second round, Murray will meet Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko, who dismissed Albert Ramos in the opener.
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