TENNIS:THIRD SEED Andy Murray reached the French Open fourth round for the first time yesterday after Janko Tipsarevic retired hurt with the Scot leading by two sets.
The Serb called on the trainer twice in the second set, receiving massage for a hamstring problem and swallowing a couple of tablets. Moving with difficulty, he called it a day at 7-6, 6-3 knowing he could not last another three sets.
“I was feeling the pain in the right leg and I couldn’t slide on my forehand, I started putting so much pressure on the left leg. Then the left leg was starting to fall apart, also,” Tipsarevic said. “Even though it was 6-3, I was more or less embarrassing myself dragging myself on the court. The only thing I could do is run on the one side, hit a bomb, and pray it’s going in.”
He added that he expected to be fit in time for the grasscourt season which starts in 10 days. Murray made a slow start, allowing Tipsarevic two breaks for a 5-2 lead before the Scot woke up to save two set points on the way to setting up the tie-break 7-3 where he nailed the set with a tight-angled backhand.
They traded breaks at the start of the second before Murray took the set with a powerful crosscourt backhand to reach the last 16.
Having come back to win the third set of his previous match from being set point down at 5-1, Murray said he was finding it easier to stage recoveries on the surface on which he has yet to win a title.
“You get into more rallies and it’s tough to just sort of serve well and win the set comfortably,”said Murray, who next faces 13th seed Marin Cilic. “One break on this court is nothing. Obviously two is a little bit tougher but you can always find ways to come back.”
World number one Rafael Nadal stitched up a straightforward 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Lleyton Hewitt yesterday to keep on track his bid for a record fifth consecutive Paris Open crown.
What had on paper looked like a interesting third-round match, with Hewitt one of the few players without a losing record against the Spaniard, quickly became a drab affair as the Australian former world number one put up little resistance.
Nadal pocketed the first set in half an hour. Hewitt briefly fought back with his own break in the fourth game of the second before letting Nadal regain control.
