TENNIS US OPENBRITISH NUMBER one Andy Murray booked a place in the US Open third round in New York last night when he overcame Michael Llodra of France in four sets.
Murray overcame Llodra 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (9/7) in a tense and exciting match at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre.
Murray next faces world number 48 Jurgen Melzer of Austria, who trounced Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 in the first match of the day on court 10.
Murray, the world number six and a three-time winner on the ATP Tour this year, took the first set thanks to an early break against the left-handed world number 38 in the third game.
Murray took his time to find his groove against a man he beat in their only previous meeting, on an indoor hardcourt in Metz last year. At 5-4, though, Murray's first service was fizzing and the sixth seed wasted little time in wrapping up the opening set 6-4 in 27 minutes by taking the game to love.
Murray, who had eased into the second round with a comfortable straight-sets win over Argentina's Sergio Roitman on Monday, quickly came under pressure in the second set and went on to lose the set 6-1.
Tensions rose early in the third set as Murray served an ace out wide on the third deuce of the game and the two players exchanged words. Then there was an outburst from Murray towards the chair umpire when the left-handed Llodra's serve appeared to go wide, the sixth seed placing a ball where he claimed the serve had hit the court.
His pleas went unanswered as Llodra held serve but Murray continued the conversation after the game had been settled.
After Murray clinched the third set 7-5, the scene was set for a dramatic finish.
Loose errors affected both players at the start of the fourth set as Murray was broken by Llodra in the opening game and then broke straight back.
The contest ebbed and flowed until they reached 5-5 but then Murray earned a match point a 6-5 on Llodra's serve with a superb winner down the line only to see the Frenchman respond with a big serve. Murray saved a game point to bring it back to deuce but Llodra again dug deep for a winning serve only to double fault at advantage.
The Frenchman worked his way back to advantage and this time made no mistake as he served a big ace to force the tie-break.
Murray quickly earned a mini-break to go 2-0 up but Llodra levelled at 2-2. Frustration saw Murray throw his racquet into the ground but he took a 5-3 lead with a brilliant backhand crosscourt winner. But he then double-faulted and Llodra again levelled.
He was then serving to save the set at 5-6 down but on his second serve he pounced on a poor Llodra return with a forehand winner.
Again Murray put himself back into trouble, handing Llodra a second set point at 7-6 before the world number 38 ceded the initiative once more with a risky volley.
Murray grabbed the opportunity, putting away a weak backhand to win before grabbing a ball from his pocket and smashing it skyward in celebration.
Venus Williams said she was due another US Open victory after a crushing 6-0, 6-3 win over Paraguayan Rossana De Los Rios in the second round.
Williams, champion in 2000 and 2001, did not get much of a workout in the 59-minute match against the 113-ranked De Los Rios (32), who has never gone beyond the second round at Flushing Meadows. "I think I just had a lot more power than she did today," the seventh seed said.
Venus (28) was satisfied with her performance but she was hardly tested. She made 17 unforced errors and squandered four match points on her serve at 5-3 up before finally claiming victory on the fifth.
Although her fourth-seeded sister Serena said this week her second title in 2002 was so long ago she could not even recall holding the trophy, Venus said she had no trouble remembering her last in 2001. "I wont forget, but I'd like to have a more recent memory, as of like '08. So that's pretty much the goal," she said.
