Andy Murray needed one hour and 55 minutes to turn aside Tommy Robredo 6-4, 7-5 on Wednesday, securing his place in the Coupe Rogers third round.
Their eighth encounter was suspended due to rain at 4-4 in the first set on Tuesday, before Murray got off to a flying start to open proceedings on Court Central. The Scot reeled off the first three games, breaking Robredo immediately to claim the opening set. He would capture five of the last six games in the second set after falling behind 4-2.
In total, Murray hit 24 aces, earning four breaks from 11 chances. The two-time champion (2009-10) at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event improved to 6-2 against the Spaniard, having saved a combined 10 match points in registering wins in the Shenzhen and Valencia finals last year.
“It was a long day hanging round with the rain, getting pushed back a lot,” said Murray. “Obviously it was pretty close to two hours. If I lost that first set or if he managed to hang onto the second, it would have been another long one.
“I’m glad I managed to finish it off in two because it’s been quite a long couple of days. Now I get to finish here, rest, and get myself ready for tomorrow. Today was the best I hit the ball on the hard courts since I started playing on it. I felt like I was returning a little bit better, which is important for my game.”
Murray will look to extend his 4-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head edge over Gilles Muller when the pair meet for a spot in the quarter-finals. Muller held off Gael Monfils 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4). The Luxembourgian is coming off a run to the semi-finals in Atlanta to open his Emirates Airline US Open Series, followed by a second round finish at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.
Also in that quarter of the draw, Bernard Tomic upset sixth seed Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-4, surviving 12 aces by the big-hitting Croat. Tomic saved both break points faced to prevail after 70 minutes. The Aussie has won six of his last seven matches after hoisting the trophy in Bogota in late July. It was the fifth Top 10 win of his career and second in 2015, having beaten David Ferrer in Indian Wells.
He will face defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga next after the 10th-seeded Frenchman survived a nail-biter against Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut. Having dropped 12 places to No. 24 in the latest ATP World Tour rankings, Tsonga risked a further slide down the rankings if he failed to defend his haul of points from winning last year’s Rogers Cup.
Trailing a set and into a second-set tie-break he was on the ropes against the World No. 20 before rallying to edge the next two sets 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-5 in two hours and 26 minutes. Tsonga serve proved the difference. He benefitted from 16 aces, winning 78 per cent of his first serve points.
(Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/montreal-2015-wednesday-murray-tsonga-tomic )
Topics: Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Bernard Tomic, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Marin Cilic, Montreal, Roberto Bautista Agut, Rogers Cup, Sports, Tennis, Tommy Robredo
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