Match presumably to be played on Monday. They've met once before, at Wimbledon in 2006, when Andy won in straight sets, 1, 4 & 4. Here's hoping he keeps that run going, which I expect him to do on the assumption that he's got the loose match out of his system...
My main memory of that match is Massu saying, in a very disgusted tone, "Grass!!" Maybe he'll be happier on hard, but I would still expect Andy to win.
Tomorrow, third on Stadium, with two men's matches beforehand, the second of which is not before 1pm local. So Andy should be on any time from say 7.30 to 9pm UK time, depending on the length of the Del Potro and the Nadal matches.
He's now serving for the match at 5-2 in the second set.
A couple of unforced errors make it 0-30 Massu goes long with a forehand 15-30 An audatious drop-shot attempt from Murray drops into the net 15-40 A good serve out wide hit into the net 30-40 Murray hits a shot which is called out, hawkeye confirms it... just
Another bad service start 0-15 Casual Massu backhand goes into the net 15-15 After a long rally, Massu has a shot called long, but was challenged and actually caught the line... replay point. Hard hitting from Massu results in Murray hitting backhand into the net 15-30 Ace out wide 30-30 Massu gets a break point again on Murray's serve 30-40 2nd serve... A good rally ends with Massu hitting long 40-40 Great point from both players, and Massu earns another break point Adv. Massu Return goes wide 40-40 Massu throws hit Racket after an unforced error, MP Murray Thought Murray had won with an ace, but was called out, then he double faults 40-40 Another chance to win the match, MP Murray Two handed winner up the line, and Murray is through to the 4th round
Well.... the less said about that match the better as it wasn't very good from either of them, but at least Murray got the win, which I suppose is all that matters.
Still can't make up my mind whether Murray is setting out with the mind-set of doing as little as possible to win matches and is happy to push the ball around and wait for mistakes, or whether he actually isn't playing that well and is very that Monaco and Massu didn't take advantage of the chances they had.
I somehow doubt that Murray is of the mind-set of doing as little as possible to get through. Both this match and the previous one have not been very good considering his talents. Although Massu showed moments of brilliance, it wasn't anywhere near consistent enough to pose a real threat. I did feel though that it was a match that was lost, rather than won, if that makes sense.
His previous encounter against Monaco was more interesting as his opponent was playing very well up till the end and that could have caused an early upset for Murray.
It's funny how he set expectations low for Indian Wells and ended up doing well and yet he said he was setting out to win in Miami and then appears to come close to loosing in his first two matches. He will have to up his game if he's to progess.
Everyone has their off days though, just look at how Nadal started out yesterday. But with a little luck, Andy has had his off days already this tournament and will go on to shine for the rest of the week.
40-40
Expected but glad none the less.
