By Chris Oddo | Tuesday May 9 2017
Andy Murray moved into the third round at Madrid and did not face a single break point in the process on Tuesday in Madrid.
Photo Source: Clive Rose/Getty
The high altitude and fast conditions at the Mutua Madrid Open appear to be working in Andy Murray’s favor. The World No.1 didn’t face a break point in his 6-4, 6-3 second-round win over Marius Copil, and he hopes it’s the beginning of a warming trend for a service that has been ice-cold since he took a break from tennis due to an elbow injury before the Miami Open.
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Since returning to action at Monte-Carlo, Murray has faced at least seven break points in his first five matches, and on three occasions he faced more than ten. So naturally he was relieved to get past Copil with no fuss from the service stripe.
He did not face a break point on Tuesday. And he feels that he can do even better next time.
“The most positive thing about tonight was that I feel like I can serve a little bit better than I did today,” Murray said. “I had no breakpoints against me. That was something that obviously I'd struggled on serve a bit, especially the last couple of tournaments. So to not give up any break points in the first match was good.”
Murray won 28 of 33 first-serve points (85%), which is an improvement to say the least. He had not won more than 76.7 percent of first-serve points in his last five matches on clay, per Tennis Abstract.
Murray will have a day off before he faces either Borna Coric or Pierre-Hugues Herbert on Thursday. He’s hoping to continue the strong trend on serve.
“When I serve well, the rest of my game tends to follow,” he said. “It's an important part of the game for me.”
Thiem, Goffin Power Through
No.8-seeded Dominic Thiem improved to 11-2 on clay this season with a 6-3, 6-4 win over American Jared Donaldson. Thiem made 84 percent of his first serves, while Donaldson only mustered a 44 percent first-serve percentage.
The Austrian saved two of three break points and will face either No.12-seeded Grigor Dimitrov or Ivo Karlovic on Thursday. Karlovic knocked off Roberto Bautista Agut by hammering 35 aces and saving four match points on Tuesday. The loss left Bautista Agut a little stunned.
“It's true that it was a crazy match with a lot of ups and downs,” the Spaniard said. “There were a lot of break points. I even had a few match points, but I wasn't able to touch the ball because it was an ace.”
No.9 seeded David Goffin defeated Florian Mayer, 7-6(3), 6-0, to set up a third-round encounter with either Gilles Muller or No.5-seeded Milos Raonic. Muller upended 39-year-old Tommy Haas, 6-4, 7-5(7).
The biggest upset of the day goes to France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert. He defeated his compatriot Lucas Pouille, 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-3.