Andy Murray has defeated Marcel Granollers of Spain in the second round of the ongoing Rogers Cup. Murray won the match in the straight sets by 6-4, 7-6(2).

Murray didn’t look at his peak in this match. He played a few glorious shots, but, the consistency wasn’t there. However, his effort was good enough to get better of Granollers.

Talking to the reporters in the post match interview, Murray said, “The conditions were a little tough. A strong breeze was blowing and the ball was flying. It took me a bit of time to adjust.”

In the opening set,  Murray was off to a good start as he broke his opponent’s serve a couple of times in a row (in the 3^rd and the 5^th game) to get ahead by 4-1.

However, the Scot was broken back in the 6^th game and then, Granollers held his serve in the 7^th game to make the score 4-3.

The next couple of games went with the serve and at the end of the 9^th game; Murray was leading by 5-4.

The Spaniard required a serve break in the next game to prevent the set from getting over, but, he couldn’t do that. Murray served the 10^th game out and got up by a set.

In the second set, there were no breakthroughs in the first 3 games and Granollers was ahead by 2-1 when the 3^rd game got over.

In the 4^th game, Granollers sneaked a breakthrough and then, won his next service game to extend his lead to 4-1.

The next 3 games went with the serve and when the 8^th game finished, Granollers was ahead by 5-3.

Murray managed to break his opponent back in the 9^th game and then, a serve hold for him in the next game levelled the proceedings.

Both the players held their serve in the next 2 games which took the set into the tie breaker.

In the tie breaker, Murray looked very aggressive. He outclassed Granollers with some great shots and finished it off in no time.

This was Murray’s 13^th win in a row. He will take on Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in the next round.

The former British tennis star, Tim Henman, has said that Andy Murray has a great chance of clinching his first ever Wimbledon title this year.

Murray has been out of tennis since the last few weeks. He withdrew his name from the ongoing French Open because of his back injury.

However, the world no. 2 has recovered from that injury now and has started training.  He is expected to make his comeback by playing in the upcoming AEGON Championships.

When asked about Murray’s chances in the Wimbledon Championships, Henman said, “I think he has a great chance this year. He had shown exceptional temperament last year, but, he had to face one of the all time greats in the final and he couldn’t get better of him. But, he has matured a lot after that defeat and this year, I would back him to go all the way.”

When asked if playing in front of the home crowd puts extra pressure on the player, Henman said, “Yes, it does. But, Murray is someone who is mentally very tough. So, he can soak up that pressure and he had shown that last year by making it to the title round.”

When asked about Murray’s decision of withdrawing from the French Open, Henman said, “I think it was the right decision. If he was not feeling 100% fit, there was no point going into the tournament. It was a much better option to rest and be fully prepared for the Wimbledon championships.”

When asked about the poor performance of the other British players in the Grand Slams, Henman said, “Honestly speaking, I am surprised by that. There are outstanding facilities available in UK for the young players and yet, only a few of them are progressing well. It’s disappointing to see.”

In the French Open, three British female tennis players were participating in the singles competition namely Laura Robson, Heather Watson and Elena Baltacha. All of them got knocked out from the opening round.

Andy Murray has defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters. Murray won the match in the straight sets by 6-1, 6-4. The match was done and dusted in just 72 minutes.

Murray had been practicing hard here at Monte Carlo since the last few days. The Scot reckons that he doesn’t play that well on clay courts, but, his performance in this match doesn’t suggest that. He hardly played a loose shot against Vasselin.

Murray has been given the second seed in this tournament. He had become the no. 2 player in the world by winning the Sony Open a few weeks ago. But, if he gets knocked out of Monte Carlo Masters before the quarter finals, he will again slip behind Roger Federer in the world rankings.

After winning the match against Vasselin, Murray said, “I managed to take a lead of 4-0 in the first set and that helped. Edouard was nervous initially and was not moving across quickly, but, in the second set, he began playing well.”

“He was playing the return shots well in the second set. I just tried to stay positive and that worked. It’s really a fine beginning.”

In the opening set, Murray got breakthroughs in the 2^nd and the 4^th game and got ahead by 4-0. But, Vasselin broke back in the 5^th game to make the score 4-1.

The Frenchman couldn’t win any more game in the set. In the 6^th game, he dropped his serve again and then, Murray served out the 7^th game to win the set.

In the second set, Murray got a breakthrough in the 3^rd game to take a lead of 2-1.  He won his remaining service games after that and sealed the match.

Andy Murray has defeated Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open. Murray won the match in the straight sets by 7-6 (7/4), 6-4. This win took Murray into the quarter final round of the event.

During the match, Murray looked upset with loud noise made by Berlocq. He talked to the umpire about it and he mentioned it in his post match interview as well.

Talking to the reporters, Murray said, “That was absolutely hilarious. He was making a very loud noise and that was disturbing me. I have never seen a player grunting like that.”

“It was certainly a difficult match. I had to fight hard for points especially in that opening set. He was very good on his serve and he kept me under pressure in the entire set.”

“Then, in the second set, I played better. I created a lot of chances. However, it still got a bit close at the end.”

In the first set, Murray was looking a bit out of touch. His serve was broken in the third game and he got trailed by 1-2. He had a chance to level the scores as he got a breakpoint in the next game. But, he couldn’t cash on that and Berlocq managed to increase his lead to 3-1 by holding his serve.

Murray again got a couple of breakpoints in the 6^th game and this time, he didn’t miss out. He got the breakthrough and equalized the scores.

Murray dropped his serve again in the 9^th game which took him down by 4-5. However, he broke back immediately and levelled the scores again.

The next two games went with the serve and that took the set into the tie breaker. In the tie breaker, Berlocq didn’t play that efficiently and ended up losing the set.

In the second set, both the players got one breakthrough each in the first four games and the score was levelled at 2-2 at the end of the 4^th game.

Murray got another breakthrough in the 7^th game to get ahead by 4-3 and this time, he didn’t let Berlocq bounce back. He held all his remaining serves after that and won the match.

In the quarter final, Murray will take on Berlocq’s compatriot Juan Martin Del Potro.

Andy Murray has defeated Gilles Simon of France in the fourth round of the Australian Open 2013. Murray won the match in the straight sets by 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. This was a brutal performance by the British superstar. He was in tremendous form and he just outplayed his French opponent. This victory took Murray into the quarterfinals.

Before the match, there were a few reports that this match might not happen as Simon was not 100% fit. But, the French player decided to take part in the match.

In the opening set, Murray started with a serve break in the first game, but, Simon recovered immediately and broke Murray’s service in the very next game to equalize the scores. But, Murray got yet another breakthrough in the third game and got ahead by 2-1.

Murray held his service for the first time in the fourth game and he made the score 3-1 in his favour. The next four games went with the serve and at the end of eighth game; Simon was trailed by 3-5. He had to hold his serve in the ninth game to take the set further, but, he didn’t manage to do so. He dropped his serve for the third time in the set and lost the opening set by 3-6.

In the first game of the second set, Murray had a shaky start and he got trailed by 0-30. However, he recovered well and managed to hold his serve to take a lead of 1-0. The Scot broke Simon’s service in the second game and was off to a lead of 2-0. The next couple of games went with the serve and at the end of the fourth game; the scorecard was showing 3-1 in Murray’s favour. After that, Murray got very aggressive. He won the next three games with two consecutive serve breaks and won the second set by 6-1.

In the third set, the first couple of games went with the serve. Murray managed to sneak a breakthrough in the third game and then, he enhanced his lead with an easy serve hold in the fourth game. Both the players held their service in the next four games and at the end of the eighth game; Murray was ahead by 5-3. The world no. 3 got a match point in the ninth game and he was not going to miss out on that opportunity. He broke Simon’s service and won the match.

In the quarter final, Murray will take on Jeremy Chardy of France.

Former British tennis player, Tim Henman, has said that Andy Murray would take his game to the next level and would win many more titles in the upcoming season. The 2012 season was the best season for Murray so far in his career. He won the gold medal in the men’s singles competition of the London Olympics and then, won his maiden Grand Slam title by defeating Novak Djokovic in the final of the US Open. Henman believes that it’s only the start for the 25 years old Scottish superstar and he will ultimately become one of the greatest players in tennis history.

When Henman was asked about Murray’s performance in the 2012 season, he said, “It was a fantastic season for Andy; no doubt about that. But, I personally believe that he is capable of performing much better than that. He has got enormous potential and his temperament has also improved quite a lot in the last one year. He can beat any player in the world on his day.”

“He is not too far away from becoming the no. 1 player in the world. Roger Federer has been a bit inconsistent in the recent times and we don’t know how Rafael Nadal is going to play after that severe knee injury. So, there is a good possibility that Andy would reach the top of the rankings at some point of time in the next season.”

Henman also hailed Murray’s coach Ivan Lendl and said that he has helped Murray a lot in improving his game. Henman said, “Murray’s coach has done a fantastic job. He detected the technical weaknesses in Murray’s game and helped him rectify those weaknesses.”

Murray and his coach are currently in Miami where they are preparing for the Australian Open.