ANDY MURRAY BEATS MARTIN KLIZAN TO REACH ROLAND GARROS THIRD ROUND

ANDY MURRAY is not fretting over his French Open form despite making heavy weather of beating an unseeded Slovakian yesterday.

 

The world No 1 needed three hours and 35 minutes to defeat Martin Klizan, eventually coming through 6-7 6-2 6-2 7-6.

It was another patchy performance from Murray and he will need to seriously up his game against Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro in the third round.

Former US Open champion Del Potro, who is still working his way back up the rankings after wrist problems, will present a serious test of Murray’s Roland Garros ambitions.

But Murray said: “It’s a tough match - in my opinion he’s one of the best players in the world.”

So I will gain a lot of confidence from that. And I also hit a lot of balls out there, more than the first-round match.

“It seems like everyone thinks I didn’t play particularly well, but there was some good stuff against a tough opponent.

“It’s not easy to play against someone like him. So hopefully I will keep improving in the next one.”

If Murray was positive off court, it was a different story on it for long spells.

He would have feared the worst after dropping the first set against his big-hitting opponent.

But Murray’s form improved as the match went on and he found a way to wear Klizan down.

“I definitely feel like I’m capable of winning that match.

“I’m playing way better than I was two weeks ago and this match will have done me a lot of good, because physically I pulled up well and felt good Klizan, the world number 50, began the match with his left calf heavily strapped and it was no surprise that his level dropped in the second set.

Murray won 11 out of 13 games to take a 2-1 lead before edging the tie-break in the fourth set to progress.

Reaching the final for the second year in a row seems a long way off but Murray added: “Consistency is definitely what I’m looking for. At times I played some very solid stuff.”

Fellow Brit Kyle Edmund’s progress was considerably easier as he reached the third round here for the first time thanks to a 7-5 6-3 6-1 win over Argentina’s Renzo Olivo.

Edmund has yet to drop a set so far and now faces Kevin Anderson. The South African knocked out the temperamental Nick Kyrgios, who destroyed two rackets and was handed a penalty point at the end of the second set.

Edmund said: “I know that I’m not going to get too ahead of myself. I have to keep going about my process and I want to get to the top of the game one day. So I know what needs to be done