Sloppy Murray Squeezes Past Schuettler

Andy Murray came through a disappointing first set to beat Rainer Schuettler 1-6, 6-0, 6-1 and move into the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open. Murray will now play Thomas Johansson for a place in the last four.

Having provoked a string of positive write-ups with his first-round victory over Olivier Rochus, Murray today produced an appalling first set to open the match against Schuettler.

Murray, looking distinctly sluggish, lost the first six points of the match, and conceded the first break with a series of unforced, sloppy, errors. Schuettler, ranked 99th in the world, had two break points in the sixth set, having held Murray to deuce on his serve in the third, and he converted the second of them to take a 5-1 lead.

Schuettler, who conceded just one point off his own serve in that opening set, served out to love to win 6-1. Murray however had recovered from a similarly woeful opening to win in three sets on the only previous occasion the pair met, in Memphis in 2006, and with Schuettler beginning to tire, the balance of play began to shift.

His first break put him 2-0 in the second, and that soon became a double break before Murray eventually served out with ease to claim the second set 6-0. Schuettler attempted to rally at the start of the third but a delicate forehand winner down the line at full stretch, which clinched Murray's first service game, was indicative of the change in the players' performances.

Murray produced a fourth straight break of the Schuettler serve and he then won a ninth straight game before the German finally held. It proved a brief respite, though, as Murray broke to love and then served out to win the match.