Murray in Madrid quarter finals
Briton’s Andy Murray had made a remarkable comeback as he marched into the quarterfinals of Madrid open with a straight sets win over Victor Hanescu. Murray was on song, breaking the Romanian opponent twice to take the first set 6-2 in their third round encounter. After carrying the momentum forwards after winning the first three games of the 2nd set, Murray broke Hanescu for the third time in the match.
Murray’s domination was stopped for a while as Hanescu made a brief comeback against the World number 38. However, Murray kept his cool and wrapped up the set 6-1 and the match in straight sets to knock Hanescu out of the tournament. Murray will face-off against 9th seeded David Ferrer, who powered through into the last 8 by beating Marin Cilic in straight sets.
Murray was satisfied with the win, and said that even though Hanescu gave him a good match, the Romanian is not an out and out player for clay courts. The Scot had no complaints about an easy win. Murray, who has not been in the best of forms in recent times, has won 2 back-to-back matches after a barren spell. The Indian Wells tournament in March was the last time Murray won two consecutive matches in the year.
As the match progressed, it was clear from the start as to who was aiming to become a dominant force. Murray took charge and while his error prone opponent did help his cause by making basic mistakes, the player from Scotland took full advantage securing the set midway through the game.
After winning his opening game, Andy returned Hanescu’s serve with good effect, taking a 0-30 advantage in the next game. But the tall Romanian tried to claw his way back to win his first service game, and then, got 2 break points on Murray’s service, which could have signalled a closer game then expected for the 3rd seed. However, Murray was able to overcome that little period and established a 2-1 lead.
The next 4 games was a walk in the park for Murray as he won all of them to wrap up the first set. Hanescu did not give up on the match, and fought hard in an effort to hold his serve during the fourth game. Murray on the other hand was in no mood to relax as he held Hanescu within his reach before breaking him in the next game. Murray then claimed the seventh game, as the Romanian miss-hit a backhand shot, which went down the line.
It was no less than the 17th unforced error for Hanescu in the first set, while Murray erred on just four occasions. Murray's did not let his guard down, and rallied in the second set, holding his serve and going up by two games in no time.
The next three games gave Murray a 4-1 lead, and there was no way back for Hanescu, as Murray wrapped up the match to set-up a meeting with David Ferrer in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
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