Yay Andy!

Davydenko would be quite a test. We'll see....

For the second match in succession Andy faced one of an increasingly rare breed, the serve volleyer. This time around it was the frenchman Nicolas Mahut who had enjoyed a surprise victory over Marat Safin in the previous round. Mahut's best results so far have tended to come on faster surfaces With victories over Haas, Malisse, Stepanek and Ljubicic suggesting that on his day, he could be a dangerous opponent.

As expected 6'3 Mahut, currently ranked 94, looked to serve aggressively on both first and second serves, prepared to take risks against one of the top returners in the game. His game plan was to be ultra aggressive, big serves, huge forehands, attack the net to put away volleys. At times it worked but in the main Murray's return, his variation and his sublime passing shots were simply too good.

The first set rushed by as Mahut struggled to land a first serve, Murray teased him then passed him for a winner point after point. An early break to love, then another this time after Mahut managed to save a couple of break points. Finally Mahut held serve to love but Andy closed out the set 6-1.

Attacking the net clearly wasn't working for Mahut, despite decent volley skills he could do little to prevent Murray for using a one-two combination, the second shot often a clean winner whipped crosscourt from the forehand or down the line off the backhand. So for the second set he tried to restrict his movement forwards until Andy was out of court; it was worth a try.

Nicolas did well to save a couple of break points in his opening service game in the second set, an ugly forehand error from Murray wasting a great opportunity to break. But his next service game was a shocker with two double faults and a horrible forehand largely gifting Andy the break. At 4-3 Murray faced his first break point of the match after a careless volley error made it 30-30 and then Mahut took advantage of a second serve to dominate the point. Andy responded with a unreturned first serve, then an ace, going on to hold for 5-3. A bizarre final game concluded the match with Mahut seemingly in control at 40-15 then giving away the next four points with wild errors, having appeared to have lost interest.

A rather one-sided match in which Mahut's decision to leave a huge gap on his forehand side when returning serve hindered his chances of breaking the Murray serve. The majority of Andy's aces and unreturned serves coming from decent, if unspectacular, serves into this unguarded space. In contrast Mahut had real difficulty penetrating Murray's return. 7 aces but just a single other unreturned serve and a heavy price in terms of 44% first serves in play as he went for the outright winner. 

Andy played well, serving at 62%, mixing up some fast and some kicked serves. His returning was excellent, as were his passing shots, though they were a few careless groundstrokes amongst his 19 unforced errors.