The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Murray’s feat of clay: World number one nets French Open win.
Scots ace insists he is playing well enough to overcome Juan Martin Del Potro
Andy Murray insisted he is playing well enough to beat Juan Martin Del Potro in the third round of the French Open after battling past Martin Klizan.
The world No 1 needed three hours and 35 minutes to defeat the world No 50 from Slovakia, coming through 6-7 (3/7) 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7/3).
It was a patchy performance from Murray, who started poorly and then got himself into trouble again at the start of the fourth set before coming back.
The victory set up a clash with former US Open champion Del Potro, who is still working his way back up the rankings after wrist problems that almost ended his career.
While benefiting from the retirement of Nicolas Almagro in their secondround match, the Argentinian is himself struggling with a groin injury.
But, assuming he is close to fully fit, Del Potro will present a serious test of Murray’s Roland Garros ambitions.
The Scot was determined to send a message of positivity, saying: “I definitely feel like I’m capable of winning that match.
“I’m playing way better than I was two weeks ago, and today’s match will have done me a lot of good because, physically, I pulled up well and felt good. So I will gain a lot of confidence from that. And I also hit a lot of balls out there, more than the first-round match.
“It seems like everyone thinks I didn’t play particularly well today, but there was some good stuff against a tough opponent. It’s not easy to play against someone like him. So hopefully I will keep improving in the next one.”
If Murray was positive off court, it was a different story on it, with the top seed maintaining a dialogue of vitriol towards himself and his support camp.
Coaches Ivan Lendl and Jamie Delgado, fitness coach Matt Little and physio Mark Bender are used to being in the line of fire, and it is something Murray has tried to improve.
But he accepts the negativity is not good for team morale.
“I think a lot of time when I’m playing, and especially when I’m frustrated or down, I don’t always project a lot of positivity on the court,” he said.
“Sometimes I think also for my team it’ s difficult to know exactly how I’ m feeling or what it is that I need when I’m on the court. So I think my job is really to try to be more positive while I’m out there.”
Former British No 1 Greg Rusedski, commentating on the match for Eurosport, believes Murray will need to improve to beat Del Potro.
Rusedski said: “That was patchy, a bit up and down and you just don’t see the confidence that he normally has going into a Grand Slam event.
“Yes Martin Klizan is dangerous but Andy just didn’t have that consistency.”
The fourth set alone lasted 78 minutes but, having broken Klizan when he served for a set for the second time in the match, Murray dominated the tie-break.
The Scot, meanwhile, threatened a sitdown protest over the positioning of spidercam, the moving camera above the court.
Meanwhile, Kyle Edmund’s fan club gained another member after the British No 2 blasted his way into the third round.
Edmund has been the most impressive British player at Roland Garros so far and maintained his record of not having dropped a set with a 7-5 6-3 6-1 victory over Argentina’s Renzo Olivo, conqueror of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The 22-year-old’s performance drew praise from Jim Courier, who is working for ITV, with the four-time Grand Slam Champion touting Edmund as a future top-10 player.