Morgan hopes weather won’t rain on his parade

ANDY Murray eased into his 29th grand slam quarter-final with a straight-sets win over Karen Khachanov in Paris.

Having started the French Open harbouring significant doubts about his form, the world number one has played himself into familiar territory.

Russian Khachanov was the youngest man to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros for eight years, and the 21-year-old’s time will surely come, but Murray used his experience to win 6-3 6-4 6-4.

The Scot used his post-match interview to send his condolences to the people caught up in Saturday’s terror attack in London.

He said: “Terrible tragedy in London, also in Manchester only six or seven days ago.

“Paris has also had some problems in the last (few) years.

“I’m sure everybody will share in thoughts and prayers for everyone who’s been affected by this.

“It’s obviously something affecting large parts of Europe and all over the world.

“I appreciate everyone still coming out to support the tennis and creating a fantastic atmosphere.”

Khachanov, ranked 53, had beaten Tomas Berdych and John Isner to make the last 16, combining the swagger of youth with a big serve and even bigger forehand.

Murray came into the match buoyed by his third-round victory over Juan Martin del Potro, where he at last began to resemble the man who conquered all before him at the end of last year.

He was on the money from the start here, keeping the ball deep and pulling Khachanov around the court.

Some classic Murray defence drew the error from Khachanov and a break for 4-2, and Murray went on clinch the first set comfortably.

There were great moments from Khachanov, particularly when he was allowed to step into the court and unleash his forehand, but this was a familiar script.

Murray is a master at frustrating young players into too many errors with his remarkable talent simply for getting balls back in play.

He broke again for 2-1 in the second set and the only real blip came three games later when Khachanov broke back.

Having only made two unforced errors until that point, Murray threw in three in one game in blustery conditions, but broke again straight away. EOIN Morgan has admitted inclement conditions are causing selection headaches ahead of England’s ICC Champions Trophy clash with New Zealand in Cardiff today.

England go into the clash at the Cardiff Wales Stadium (10.30am start) as favourites, having beaten Bangladesh by eight wickets in their tournament opener at The Oval.

Leg-spinner Adil Rashid was dropped at the eleventh hour for that clash and after heavy rain in the Welsh capital yesterday, captain Morgan is again unsure about the balance of his side.

England have been hampered by injuries to Chris Woakes – whose tournament was ended by a side strain – and Ben Stokes, though the latter is expected to bowl against the Black Caps.

“We don’t (have an idea of the team), probably less than ever because the wicket has been under covers and will continue to be,” said Morgan at his pre-match press conference, expressing concerns about a pitch that has been covered due to persistent rain.

And though the weather is set to improve, Morgan will wait until the last moment to make a decision on his team.

He added: “What looked like a good pitch might change under a hot sweaty cover so we’ll have to see.

“I think the match up against New Zealand will affect the team we select, and if the wicket is as fair as we hope it’s going to be, we’ll try to match up against New Zealand instead of looking at conditions.”

Paceman Steven Finn is among Morgan’s options having been drafted in to replace Woakes in England’s 15-man squad. Finn could join Stokes, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood and David Willey in a five-man English seam attack if Rashid is again omitted.

Morgan is keen to see the best from Finn, whose tendency to concede runs kept him out of the initial squad.

“We want to see more of what we saw (from Finn) in the West Indies,” added Morgan.

“Steven showed what he could do in that tour, there wasn’t a lot on offer in the pitch in games he played. But certainly coming in, bowling fast and hitting the wickets hard were the values he showed.

“I would have no hesitation in playing him if we felt that was the right thing to do.”

As far as explosive all-rounder Stokes is concerned, the England camp are hopeful he can get through a significant number of overs to lift the burden on the rest of the attack.

“I think we’re nearly there,” Morgan said of Stokes’ knee injury which restricted the Durham man to batting duties and a limited amount of bowling. He’s had no pain in five days so if that continues, there’s a chance he could bowl 10 overs.”

New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill, meanwhile, was keen for his teammates to continue the good form shown in their tournament opener against Australia.

The Black Caps reduced their bitter rivals to 53/3 in pursuit of 291 and looked set for possible victory when rain caused an abandonment at Edgbaston on Friday.

“We did some very good things in that last game and it was unfortunate that the rain came when he did,” said an optimistic Guptill.

“We can’t control the weather but we’ll take the positives going into this one. It’s a very much new-look England side in the last couple of years and it’s going to be exciting.”