Murray races into US Open second round

NEW YORK. – Defending US Open champion Andy Murray raced into the US Open second round with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 win over veteran Frenchman Michael Llodra on Wednesday.
The third seeded Murray, who snapped Britain’s 76-year wait for a men’s Grand Slam champion when he triumphed in New York last year, needed just 98 minutes to get past the 33-year-old Llodra.
The match only got underway at 9:55pm – the third-latest start for a US Open night session – after a four-hour rain suspension earlier in the day caused havoc with the schedule.
But the Scot quickly made up for lost time.
Wimbledon champion Murray broke Llodra in the first and seventh games of the opening set before slipping 0-3 down in the second set against a man he had defeated in all three of their previous meetings.
But the 26-year-old stopped the rot to put together five games in a row on his way to securing the second set.
He was a break to the good for 2-1 against serve-and-volleyer Llodra in the decider and went to match point after getting the better of a rally which started with his left-handed opponent sending over a cunning under-armed serve.
Murray hit 34 winners against just five unforced errors while Llodra committed 29 unforced errors.
Murray goes on to face Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer for a place in the last 32.
Former champion Juan Martin Del Potro was made to work on a wet Wednesday, with the sixth seed squeezing into the second round of the US Open after fighting off a challenge from Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
The sixth-seeded Argentine came through on his fourth match point for a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) win in four-and-three-quarter hours on a day badly delayed by rain.
The match was halted for two-and-a-quarter hours in the opening afternoon stages while drizzly weather passed.
The night-time finish sends 2009 winner Del Potro into the next round against German Peter Gojowczyk, who beat Igor Sijsling 7-6 (9-7), 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. The winner hit 13 aces and 52 winners in his victory.
In other results, Marcos Baghdatis beat Go Soeda 6-4, 6-3, 6-1, South African Kevin Anderson stopped German Daniel Brands 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 and Russian Mikhail Youzhny put out France’s Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, champion in 2001, wore down American qualifier Brian Baker 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-4, to move into the second-round.
Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman defeated Lukas Lacko of Slovakia, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in a first-round tie spread out over eight hours.
Meanwhile, Venus Williams vowed to be back.
The 33-year-old American lost a heartbreaker to China’s Zheng Jie 6-3 2-6 7-6(5) in the second round of the US Open on Wednesday before rejecting any possibility of retirement.
“Oh wow, I definitely want to come back for the atmosphere,” she said. “I’ll get there. I just have to keep working on it. I’ve had a tough set of circumstances to work through, especially this year, last year and the year before.
“I’ve been dealt some cards that aren’t easy, but I have to play with them. I’m a fighter.”
Williams suffers Sjogren’s Syndrome, which causes fatigue and joint pain, and has been hampered this year by back pain.
Champion in New York in 2000 and 2001, Williams had a parochial crowd on her side as the match went down to the wire.
A rushed volley at five-all in the deciding tiebreaker proved costly.
“I should have made the shot,” she said. “I rushed so badly and didn’t make it. I had a lot of opportunities, I was always stepping up and putting myself in a good position . . . but I just dug myself into so many holes.
“I fought as hard as I could to get out of them, but sometimes it just wasn’t enough.”
Williams will contest the doubles with her sister Serena.
She planned to sit back and watch the next era of American women’s tennis.
“I’m happy to see them doing so well,” she said. “They all seem really talented.
“I’m looking forward to them continuing to develop their games and hopefully be able to win big matches, big tournaments, and continue to influence the next generation, as well.”
Former world No 1 Williams, who upset 12th-seeded Belgian Kirsten Flipkens in the first round, is now ranked 60 in the world, but Zheng was thrilled to fell the former champion in front of her home crowd.
“It’s unbelievable I can beat her,” she said in a courtside interview. Zheng next faces 18th-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro in the third round. – AFP.