Murray Progresses Despite Poor Start

Andy Murray began his attempt to retain the Sony Open in Miami with a flustering three-set victory against the Australian Matthew Ebden in the Second Round in his first match after splitting with coach Ivan Lendl.

Murray continued his recent trend of sluggish first sets, conceding the first 6-3 before fighting back to win the next two 6-0 and 6-1.

It was another disappointing start from Murray who has failed to beat a top twenty ranked player since his Wimbledon title last year. The Scot seems yet to have fully recovered from the back surgery that kepy him out during the end of the 2013 season.

As is customary in recent months, Murray started slowly, quickly finding himself a break down as he began his Miami defence. The Scot was unable to hit back and found himself a set down as Ebden claimed the first set 6-3.

This sparked a despondent Murray into life, flying out of the traps in the second set to quickly claim a double break and lead 4-0. Ebden had no reply to a resurgent Murray and found himself suffering a beagel in the second set as Murray drew level at one set of piece.

Yet Murray was broken in the first game of the third set to supposedly snatch the momentum from his grasp. However the Scot refused to give in without a fight, breaking back instantly before breaking again to claim a 3-1 lead.

From there the match was never in doubt, the current Wimbledon Champion romping home 6-1 in the third set to advance to the third round. However, Murray's celebrations lacked any sort of joy as he seemed more relieved to have got over the line in a match he made more difficult than it should have been..

In the next round Murray will clash with 32nd seed Feliciano Lopez, after the left-handed Spaniard overcame rising star Jiri Vesely 6-2 7-6.

Published on SEaT Capital.

Ward Endures Narrow Indian Wells Defeat

Britain's number three James Ward fell just short of a spectacular upset against the World number 37 Feliciano Lopez as he narrowly lost 6-3 2-6 6-4 in the BNP Paribas Open second round.

Ward was initially knocked out in the final round of qualifying, succumbing to Paul-Henri Mathieu. But the late withdrawal of Juan Martin Del Potro with a wrist injury meant that Ward was able to claim a lucky loser spot early on Sunday morning, automatically moving him into the second round.

Ward was certainly he remained in Indian Wells over the weekend, telling the Guardian, "I took a gamble on staying here rather than going to Dallas [for this week's Challenger tournament] and it paid off, and it nearly paid off, and it nearly paid off even better."

The Brit will consider himself unlucky not to have advanced to the third round after looking the better player for much of the match. However, his inability to capitalize on a host of break points, converting just one of his ten he created for himself, left him wondering what might have been.

Flying out of the traps, Ward proved a constant problem to a shaky looking Lopez, eventually converting his seventh break point to take a 4-2 lead in the first set courtesy of a mishit overhead. The first set continued on serve as Ward eventually wrapped it up 6-3

Lopez responded in the second set with an early break to lead 3-0. Ward was notably struggling to cope with the left-handed Spaniard and was broken again before the end of the second set, losing it 6-2.

In a nervy final set, both players had few chances to break the other but it was Lopez who converted one of his two break points, going on to eventually beat the baffling Brit 6-4 in the Final set.

Ward though will take heart from another fine display against an established tour regular after defeating Sam Querrey in the Davis Cup and upsetting World Number 60 Teymuraz Gabashvili two weeks ago in Dubai.

His loss leaves Andy Murray as the sole British survivor in the singles side of the tournament. Murray will take on rising star Jiri Vesely in the third round as he seeks to recover from a slow start to the 2014 season.

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Murray Powers Into Fourth Round

In his first real test of this year's Australian Open, Andy Murray produced his best tennis, beating the twenty-sixth seed Feliciano Lopez 7-6(2) 6-4 6-2.

As the fourth day heatwave finally ended Murray faced his first seeded played in the tournament, overcoming the challenge with ease as he won in just over two hours.

Murray came into the match with a 7-0 winning record against the Spaniard and his victory extended this run. Lopez is a left-handed player and it is notably documented that Murray enjoys playing lefties, attributing to growing up playing with his brother Jamie.

After the match Murray told Sky Sports, "It's been a good start. It was very tricky conditions the first couple of matches with the heat but today was beautiful conditions to play in."

The match did not start well for Murray as he was broken in his opening service game for the second consecutive match. However he broke back instantly as the match started in scrappy fashion.

The errors continued to fly from both rackets as the first set advanced to a tie-break. Murray gained an early mini-break and ground out the first set courtesy of a Lopez error.

The first set galvanized the Scot and he broke instantly at the start of the second. The rest of the set passed by uneventfully as both players held their serve unchallenged, Murray taking it 6-4.

By this point Lopez cut a beaten figure as he was broken twice in the third set to find himself 4-1 down. Murray ruthlessly saw out the match playing a couple of stylish winners before a Lopez error gifted him the match.

In the fourth round Murray will play record-breaking Frenchman Stephane Robert. With a three set victory over Martin Klizan, Robert became the first ever 'lucky loser' to advance to the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

Should Murray beat Robert he will face the daunting prospect of a match against either Roger Federer or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter finals.

Published on SEaT Capital.