ANDY’S DOWN ... BUT FAR FROM OUT!
MIKE DICKSON
ANDY MURRAY insists he remains on course for a first Australian Open title despite taking a bad tumble during his second-round match yesterday. The world No 1 fell during a straight-sets victory over Russian teenager Andrey Rublev, but does not expect any problems for his third-round tie against big-serving American Sam Querrey. Murray — who was joined in the next round by fellow Brit Dan Evans after he upset Marin Cilic — caused a scare in the third game of
the third set in a win that took only 97 minutes and was left grateful for the ankle supports he has been using since his early twenties. ‘They do help in those situations,’ said Murray. ‘I haven’t done that (fallen) too often since I’ve been wearing them, but they have helped me a couple of times. ‘I heard a few sort of little crackles and it was sore. It was throbbing for the rest of the match. ‘I was moving fine on it, though. Normally, if it’s something like a serious ankle injury, you can’t put weight on your foot. ‘Pretty much every player plays with ankle taping or supports. I find that having the ankle support gives you more mobility than the taping.’ Querrey is the first seed Murray will run into and it looks a more dangerous match than his potential fourth round tie. That would be against Tunisian Malek Jaziri or Germany’s Mischa Zverev, less feared older brother of Alex. Murray has a 6-1 record over 6ft 5in Querrey, the one loss being in the final of the now defunct ATP event in Los Angeles six years ago. ‘I haven’t played him for quite a while,’ said Murray. ‘He’s obviously a dangerous player with a big serve. He had a big win a couple of Slams ago against Novak (Djokovic). I’m aware of that and I’ll be ready.’ Murray said of Evans’ shock win over seventh-seed Cilic: ‘I saw quite a lot of Dan’s match. I’m really happy for him because he’s a nice guy. He’s talented. He does work hard. He competes well.’