ANDY’S TOUR DE FORCE
Andy Murray cut short another potential classic against Juan Martin del Potro by snuffing out his smoking forehand – and silencing his “manly grunt”.
The two Grand Slam champions fought out a marathon five-hour battle on their last meeting in Glasgow – the longest match of both their careers.
And that record was in danger of being broken during an epic 84-minute first set where the world No.1 saved four set points before claiming a tense tiebreak.
Disbelieving Del Potro bowed his head at the net after just missing the sideline in the final point and remained there for a minute.
And gaining in form and confidence in every match, Murray slowly nullified the power-hitting of the 2009 US Open champion to win 7-6 7-5 6-0 in only two hours and 49 minutes.
The Scot, who also beat the Argentine in last summer’s epic Olympic Final, said: “I’m happy with how the match was today.
“I’m working things out while I’m playing the matches – the tactical side is very important for me.
“And when that’s going well, that’s really positive for me. Even when I went behind today, I wasn’t worried.
“Same in the second round match with Martin Klizan, I made changes and turned the match around.”
Del Potro has a huge serve – and his thunderous forehand grew gasps from the crowd on the Court Phi lippe Chatrier.
Double Wimbledon champ Murray said: “His forehand is a big shot. That’s where you need to be smart when you’re playing against him.
“I played quite a lot into his forehand today.
“A lot of the guys with big forehands, they like to hit them from their backhand corner.
“It’s a bit harder to read where someone is going to hit their