Murray Wins, Blake Rolled, Federer v Gonzalez Next at ATP Indian Wells
Posted on March 16, 2009World No. 4 Andy Murray eased past Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu on Monday at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with a scoreline of 6-3, 6-2 to advance into the fourth round.
"I hit the ball a lot better than my first match," Murray said. "I served big when I needed to and moved very well again. Bar a couple games where I lost my concentration a little bit, it was a very solid match."
Murray will next face No. 15 seed Tommy Robredo, who turned back No. 19 seed Marin Cilic 7-5, 7-6(2).
No. 13-seeded American James Blake, looking sluggish and without confidence, was steamrolled 7-5, 6-1 by No. 17 seed Fernando Gonzalez, making it seven losses in a row to the Chilean.
"I think my serve was a big difference," Blake said. "I think I probably got about two, maybe three free points, in the whole second set on the first serve wasn't coming in. And when it was coming in, it wasn't hitting its spot. If I'm not getting any free points off of that, and he's as confident as he was playing after winning that first set, then it's going to be tough for me."
Gonzalez will next face world No. 2 Roger Federer, who was a 7-6(4), 6-3 victor over No. 27 seed Ivo Karlovic.
"He's a tough opponent to play against," Federer said. "I think he's good for the lower-ranked players to play against just because you'll always have a chance. For the top guys, it's worse because it also just depends on a few shots. I'm actually pretty happy with the [7-1] head-to-head I had with him."
Karlovic's compatriot, Croat Ivan Ljubicic, upset No. 8 seed Gilles Simon in straight sets. Other winners were unseeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 over Nicolas Lapentti, and No. 10 Fernando Verdasco who defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2.
"I hit the ball a lot better than my first match," Murray said. "I served big when I needed to and moved very well again. Bar a couple games where I lost my concentration a little bit, it was a very solid match."
Murray will next face No. 15 seed Tommy Robredo, who turned back No. 19 seed Marin Cilic 7-5, 7-6(2).
No. 13-seeded American James Blake, looking sluggish and without confidence, was steamrolled 7-5, 6-1 by No. 17 seed Fernando Gonzalez, making it seven losses in a row to the Chilean.
"I think my serve was a big difference," Blake said. "I think I probably got about two, maybe three free points, in the whole second set on the first serve wasn't coming in. And when it was coming in, it wasn't hitting its spot. If I'm not getting any free points off of that, and he's as confident as he was playing after winning that first set, then it's going to be tough for me."
Gonzalez will next face world No. 2 Roger Federer, who was a 7-6(4), 6-3 victor over No. 27 seed Ivo Karlovic.
"He's a tough opponent to play against," Federer said. "I think he's good for the lower-ranked players to play against just because you'll always have a chance. For the top guys, it's worse because it also just depends on a few shots. I'm actually pretty happy with the [7-1] head-to-head I had with him."
Karlovic's compatriot, Croat Ivan Ljubicic, upset No. 8 seed Gilles Simon in straight sets. Other winners were unseeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 over Nicolas Lapentti, and No. 10 Fernando Verdasco who defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2.