Murray beats a wobble to mash Potito
BRITISH No1 Andy Murray admitted his relief after battling back from the brink of an upset to reach the third round of the French Open.
Having swept to the first set against world No104 Potito Starace, Murray won just three of the following 14 games, losing the second set and going 5-1 in the third.
But the Scot rediscovered his touch in time to fight off two set points and claim the third, before wrapping up a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory.
“The most important thing is I found a way to win and I’m very happy to be in the next round,” said the world No3, who has never progressed beyond the third round at Roland Garros.
“I managed to turn it around by playing a little bit more aggressive. I just went for my shots. I made him work hard at the end of the third set. I wasn’t worrying if it was set point or not for him.”
A rueful Starace said: “I had a lot of opportunities. I felt good at 3-6 6-2 5-1, but he played the set points very well.”
Standing between Murray and a fourth round debut is Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, who prevailed in a four-hour marathon against 28th seed Feliciano Lopez. Their match is likely to take place tomorrow.
Murray demonstrated his vast improvement on clay by breaking Starace twice in the opening set, before standing off and allowing the Italian to take charge. But third seed Murray, facing a 2-1 deficit, went back on the attack and completed a four-set triumph.
Also safely into round three yesterday were defending champion Rafael Nadal, seventh seed Gilles Simon and eighth seed Fernando Verdasco.
Women’s champion Ana Ivanovic, top seed Dinara Safina, unseeded former Wimbledon winner Maria Sharapova and ninth seed Victoria Azarenka all secured their places in the last 32.