Pospisil was poor but Murray got better as the match went on, I thought. By the end he was using his forehand well and I thought his second serve was perhaps a little better than in previous tournaments. Kohly will be more difficult but hopefully Murray has a fair few gears left.

L64: (4) Andy Murray WR 4 beat Vasek Pospisil (CAN) WR 62 (CH = 25 in January last year) by 1 & 3

L32: (4) Andy Murray WR 4 v (26) Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) WR 29 (CH = 16 in July 2012)

Andy will play Kohli 2nd on Stadium 1 on Monday (c. 19.30 GMT) - H2H is 2-0 to Andy

indiana wrote:

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Err no.

I wouldn't normally even doubt, but this time I knew that Andy had had an atrocious performance in defeat on clay to Kohlschreiber some years ago ( even if I didn't know what year and actually had in mind that it was Rome, though yes Monte Carlo I now reflect it was )

H2H is 1-1.

2010 Monte Carlo Masters, Kohlschreiber won 6-2 6-1

2014 French Open, Murray won 3-6 6-3 6-3 4-6 12-10*

* As an aside, please join John McEnroe's crusade for final set tie breaks !

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I'd obviously erased that dire loss from my memory  but that's bizarre - only the RG win and the 2010 Hopman Cup win appeared when I looked up the H2H on ITF yesterday but today the Monte Carlo loss has 'miraculously' reappeared. So yes, 2-1 but 1-1 excluding Hopman Cup.

Premature perhaps but the winner of this match will face Mannarino, who beat (14) Gulbis.

Loses the second 3-6. Not really what Andy needed considering the rising heat and his dipping form. Not too sure I trust him in this third but here we go.

I don't think Andy has ever had any great liking for the Indian Wells slow courts even though this year he has come from Glasgow's indoor pretty slow courts.

Probably hardly much quicker than Roland Garros !

True. It does seem to be helping his second serve though - Kohli had difficulty dealing with the spin. The tennistv commentator was amazed that Andy had 5 double faults, and also commented earlier on the improvement in his second serve - without apparently noticing the connection that, being more aggressive on his second serve is likely to result in more DFs.