Andy Murray’s heat too much for Pospisil
Vancouver product eliminated at Indian Wells
INDIAN WELLS, CALIF. — Andy Murray defeated Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil 6-1, 6-3 to reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday, with the hard-serving Canadian making it easier as a result of his 35 unforced errors.
Kei Nishikori beat American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-4, while defending women’s champion Flavia Pennetta easily advanced.
Murray broke Pospisil three times in the first set, winning the final six games. They traded breaks to open the second. Murray broke Pospisil at love in the eighth game, then served his own love game to close out the match.
Murray lost in the Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic and has played just two other tournaments so far in addition to the Davis Cup.
Nishikori dispatched Harrison in 1 hours despite struggling with his first serve.
The fifth-ranked Japanese player reached the third round at Indian Wells for the first time in eight tries.
Nishikori arrived in the desert on a roll, having reached the quarter-finals or better at each of his four previous tournaments this year. He won the title in Memphis.
Pennetta beat American Madison Brengle 6-4, 6-2 as the Italian opened defence of the biggest title of her career.
She has more ranking points (1,065) on the line at this tournament and coming up in Miami than any other player.
Pennetta is looking to rebound from a poor start this year, having lost in the first round in Sydney and the Australian Open.
Other women’s winners were: No. 4 seed Caroline Wozniacki, fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic, No. 11 Sara Errani and No. 16 Madison Keys.