Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Murray survives ankle scare, wins
MELBOURNE, Australia — When Andy Murray tumbled to the court clutching his right ankle, the top of the men’s draw at the Australian Open momentarily took on a new complexion.
The top-ranked Murray was leading his secondround match comfortably Wednesday night when his right shoe caught on the surface in the third game of the third set, and he rolled awkwardly on the ground.
The five-time Australian Open runner-up continued and won that game, but told himself, loudly, “It’s not good news.” He saw a trainer during the next change of ends but decided he didn’t need any extra treatment on his already heavily braced joint.
Murray went on to win 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 against Andrey Rublev, later saying, “I was moving OK at the end which is positive.
“Sometimes if you roll your ankle and it feels bad, you can’t put weight on it, but I could put weight on it, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Speaking at a news conference, Murray mentioned that his ankle throbbed during the match and he hadn’t been able to see the replay to determine the cause.
“It just a little bit stiff just now,” he said, but “I don’t think I’ve done too much damage.”
It was Murray’s 178th win in a Grand Slam match, joining Stefan Edberg in a tie for eighth on the list of match winners in the Open era.
Murray next faces No. 31 Sam Querrey, who had 7-6 (5), 6-0, 6-1 win over 17year-old wild-card entry Alex De Minaur.
The rest of the third day of the season-opening Grand Slam had gone generally to script.
Roger Federer’s progress was straightforward in a 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory over 20-year-old qualifier Noah Rubin to maintain his record of never failing to reach the third round at the 18 Australian Opens he’s contested. Next up, Federer faces 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych, who had a 6-3, 7-6 (6), 6-2 win over Ryan Harrison.
Also potentially looming is No. 5 Kei Nishikori. They’re all in the top-heavy quarter of the draw with Murray.