Murray survives back woes, Nadal on course
Source: Agencies |
June 1, 2012, Friday
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GRIMACING in pain with almost every step, Andy Murray nearly had to call it quits at the French Open yesterday because of a bad back.
Instead, the fourth-seeded Briton rebounded from an awful first set to beat Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 and reach the third round in Paris.
Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, improved his record at Roland Garros to 47-1, advancing to the third round by beating Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-2, 6-2, 6-0.
Nadal has won the French Open title six times, and one more will break the record he shares with Swede Bjorn Borg. The second-seeded Spaniard's only loss at the claycourt grand slam came in 2009, when he lost to Swede Robin Soderling in the fourth round.
Murray could barely walk straight when the match started on Court Philippe Chatrier, gingerly trotting around the red clay with the equivalent of a big target on his back. Nieminen took advantage, at the beginning.
But after losing the first four games, Murray called for a trainer. He then broke back to 4-1, and needed more treatment during the changeover.
The first set was over quickly, and Murray took yet another break for treatment. That one really seemed to do the trick.
Despite being broken to open the second set, the Scot started to move better and make his shots count. By the time he broke back to even that score at 4-4, Murray was the one getting stronger.
"I should have taken a double break in the second set to have taken the second set," Nieminen said. "I couldn't take that, and then I played one very poor changeover, two bad games, and then he started to play better.
"I really never got the momentum back."
No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France and No. 6 David Ferrer of Spain also advanced, while Wimbledon champion and fourth seed Petra Kvitova reached the third round by beating Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-3 and Dane Caroline Wozniacki, the ninth seed, defeated Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia, 6-1, 6-4.
Instead, the fourth-seeded Briton rebounded from an awful first set to beat Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 and reach the third round in Paris.
Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, improved his record at Roland Garros to 47-1, advancing to the third round by beating Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-2, 6-2, 6-0.
Nadal has won the French Open title six times, and one more will break the record he shares with Swede Bjorn Borg. The second-seeded Spaniard's only loss at the claycourt grand slam came in 2009, when he lost to Swede Robin Soderling in the fourth round.
Murray could barely walk straight when the match started on Court Philippe Chatrier, gingerly trotting around the red clay with the equivalent of a big target on his back. Nieminen took advantage, at the beginning.
But after losing the first four games, Murray called for a trainer. He then broke back to 4-1, and needed more treatment during the changeover.
The first set was over quickly, and Murray took yet another break for treatment. That one really seemed to do the trick.
Despite being broken to open the second set, the Scot started to move better and make his shots count. By the time he broke back to even that score at 4-4, Murray was the one getting stronger.
"I should have taken a double break in the second set to have taken the second set," Nieminen said. "I couldn't take that, and then I played one very poor changeover, two bad games, and then he started to play better.
"I really never got the momentum back."
No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France and No. 6 David Ferrer of Spain also advanced, while Wimbledon champion and fourth seed Petra Kvitova reached the third round by beating Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-3 and Dane Caroline Wozniacki, the ninth seed, defeated Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia, 6-1, 6-4.
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