Murray marches on in Metz after straight-sets win

ANDY MURRAY showed further signs of a return to form as a convincing 6-3, 6-3 win over Vasek Pospisil saw him move into the quarter-finals of the Moselle Open in Metz. The Scot had seen off home favourite and world No 26 Ugo Humbert in three sets on Tuesday and showed no ill-effects against his Canadian opponent. Murray — who suffered a lowkey defeat in a Challenger in Rennes last week — broke Pospisil in the seventh game of the opening set, which he duly closed out. Pospisil rallied at the start of the second set to immediately break the former world No 1 and then held to move 2-0 ahead. Murray, though, remained composed to stay in the set and eventually broke back to level at 3-3. A hold from Murray (above) kept the pressure on before a couple of unforced errors from Pospisil saw the Briton serve for the match — and he obliged with an impressive hold on his first match point. ‘For the most part, I served pretty good, lost my rhythm a bit at the end of the first set, start of the second, but I returned well and played a smart match,’ said Murray. ‘Even after I was a break down, I was still creating chances and, once I got back into the second set, I gained a bit of confidence and was more offensive. That’s what turned the match for me.’ Murray, runner-up in Metz in 2007, will next face either Polish top seed Hubert Hurkacz, the world No 13, or Frenchman Lucas Pouille. ‘For me, this period of the last few years has been the most I have played, really,’ added Murray. ‘My body feels good and I am starting to gain just a little bit of confidence with each match. ‘There have been times in the past year where I have been a bit confused and not seeing how the points are developing. ‘It made me feel quite uncomfortable on court when I was feeling that way, so I am starting to get that back and the results are coming.’