Murray Shows He is Back in Business With Mauling of Mathieu
Britain's No1 Andy Murray eases to victory in California
As an example of how to analyze and dissect a good player's game and beat him with merciless ease, this was as good as it gets. Paul-Henri Mathieu is a big, powerful, experienced player currently ranked 32 in the world but Andy Murray needed just one hour and 16 minutes to expose all his weaknesses and overwhelm him 6–3, 6–2 to move into the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open in California.
Mathieu lost his serve in the opening game of the match and it went downhill from there despite a momentary glimpse of salvation when he managed to break back in the sixth game.
But it was like throwing a crushable pebble into the workings of a well-oiled machine. Murray was motoring with such speed and lightness of foot that he was able to deal with all the Frenchman's probing, angled drives and turn defence into attack seemingly at will.
The Scot broke back immediately and then continued his basic tactic of giving Mathieu slow, tantalizing balls on his backhand. The response must have exceeded Murray's wildest dreams because whenever Mathieu tried to up the pace and go for the winner, the backhand flew yards wide of every line he aimed at.
Murray had said, after beating Albert Montanes in the second round, that although he was not hitting the ball as well as he would like, he felt he was moving extremely well. Now the ball striking has fallen into synch with the movement and the combination is devastating. The world No 4 completed the first set, when he had a break point on the French serve, by chasing all over the court; surging in to pick up a short ball on the backhand and guiding it with exquisite touch and placement down the line for a winner.
The crowd of several thousand basking on the huge Stadium Court loved it and Murray, inspired by an unusually high degree of support that he has been receiving from these Californian fans, proceeded to take control of the second set as well. The break came in the fourth game, aided by one of the most spectacular points of a generally entertaining match. A defensive return from Murray set Mathieu up for a smash but he had to hit it from deep and Murray was waiting, measuring the return off his backhand and eventually forcing his opponent into another error.
To his credit Mathieu did not give up and reached breakback point three times at 2-4. He tested Murray constantly with drop shots of his own and the Scot needed to maintain his sprinting speed to deal with many of them.
But Mathieu was not consistent enough to press home his advantage and Murray walked off court having put in a performance that suggested he is back to the form that has earned him two ATP titles this year. His only lingering concern was his fitness following the virus which left him bed-ridden in London two weeks ago.
"Physically I need to get better," Murray conceded, though the thought that there is room for improvement will be disconcerting for many an opponent. "I was breathing harder than I'd like after some of the long points. But I was happy with my movement."
He also refuted the suggestion that he had ruled himself out of winning the tournament. "What I said was that I wasn't putting too much pressure on myself. But I'm feeling good, getting enough sleep; getting used to the time change and although my priority is to be absolutely ready for Miami I think if I keep hitting the ball like I have been and maybe changing the pace, I'm definitely going to be tough to beat."
Mathieu lost his serve in the opening game of the match and it went downhill from there despite a momentary glimpse of salvation when he managed to break back in the sixth game.
But it was like throwing a crushable pebble into the workings of a well-oiled machine. Murray was motoring with such speed and lightness of foot that he was able to deal with all the Frenchman's probing, angled drives and turn defence into attack seemingly at will.
The Scot broke back immediately and then continued his basic tactic of giving Mathieu slow, tantalizing balls on his backhand. The response must have exceeded Murray's wildest dreams because whenever Mathieu tried to up the pace and go for the winner, the backhand flew yards wide of every line he aimed at.
Murray had said, after beating Albert Montanes in the second round, that although he was not hitting the ball as well as he would like, he felt he was moving extremely well. Now the ball striking has fallen into synch with the movement and the combination is devastating. The world No 4 completed the first set, when he had a break point on the French serve, by chasing all over the court; surging in to pick up a short ball on the backhand and guiding it with exquisite touch and placement down the line for a winner.
The crowd of several thousand basking on the huge Stadium Court loved it and Murray, inspired by an unusually high degree of support that he has been receiving from these Californian fans, proceeded to take control of the second set as well. The break came in the fourth game, aided by one of the most spectacular points of a generally entertaining match. A defensive return from Murray set Mathieu up for a smash but he had to hit it from deep and Murray was waiting, measuring the return off his backhand and eventually forcing his opponent into another error.
To his credit Mathieu did not give up and reached breakback point three times at 2-4. He tested Murray constantly with drop shots of his own and the Scot needed to maintain his sprinting speed to deal with many of them.
But Mathieu was not consistent enough to press home his advantage and Murray walked off court having put in a performance that suggested he is back to the form that has earned him two ATP titles this year. His only lingering concern was his fitness following the virus which left him bed-ridden in London two weeks ago.
"Physically I need to get better," Murray conceded, though the thought that there is room for improvement will be disconcerting for many an opponent. "I was breathing harder than I'd like after some of the long points. But I was happy with my movement."
He also refuted the suggestion that he had ruled himself out of winning the tournament. "What I said was that I wasn't putting too much pressure on myself. But I'm feeling good, getting enough sleep; getting used to the time change and although my priority is to be absolutely ready for Miami I think if I keep hitting the ball like I have been and maybe changing the pace, I'm definitely going to be tough to beat."
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