Murray, Nadal cruise into Wimbledon Rd 3

Andy Murray looked every bit the assured defending champion as he weathered an early storm from Dustin Brown to advance to Wimbledon's third round.

Andy Murray serves against Dustin Brown

Serving it up... Andy Murray looked completely healthy when disposing of Dustin Brown. (AAP)

Defending champion Andy Murray and red-hot Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal have made statements of intent as they both crushed their second round opponents at The All England Club.

First Murray outclassed flamboyant German Dustin Brown 6-3 6-2 6-2 in an entertaining match of exhibition style points, overcoming a potentially tricky opponent with a reputation for giant-killing.

Then Nadal took to the court and swept aside a very frustrated Donald Young 6-4 6-2 7-5.

Nadal was rarely troubled by an opponent ranked 43rd in the world who chose to slug it out from the back of the court against the supreme Spanish baseliner.

Fourth seed Nadal, fresh from winning his 10th French Open title last month, was roared on by the crowd and he seemed to be able to produce winners at will with his swashbuckling forehand.

Nadal will next face rising Russian star Karen Khachanov in the third round.

Murray faced a difficult task in Brown, a man more talented than his ranking of 97 indicates.

Despite being moved all round the court by a barrage from Brown in the blazing heat, Briton Murray gave as good as he got - and better - playing the same shots with more accuracy and control.

Murray only rarely showed signs of the sore hip that has been troubling him and he came through an easy winner.

"If he has a problem with his hip, I don't want to play against him when his hip is good," Brown told reporters.

Murray was aware of the danger Brown posed and knew breaking Brown early was a must but ultimately Brown gifted it to him with a double fault.

"Once I got the break in the first set, I felt the momentum was with me, I was starting to see the shots he was going to play a little bit quicker and that allowed me to get to some of the drop volleys and also come up with some good passing shots."

Murray now faces enigmatic Italian Fabio Fognini in the third round and is hoping for a more traditional battle against a man he has a 3-3 record against.

"I think against Fabio ... it's maybe easier to come up with a game plan because there will be a bit more structure and strategy in the match rather than just, reacting and sort of more kind of instinctive points," Murray said.

Joining them in the third round with impressive wins are Croatian seventh seed Marin Cilic and French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Both men enjoyed straight sets wins. Cilic most impressive in defeating dangerous grasscourter Florian Mayer 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 7-5, while Tsonga banished wily Italian veteran Simone Bolelli 6-2 7-5 6-2 to book a third round battle with America's Sam Querrey.

Joining them in the third round but in far less impressive fashion is Japanese ninth seed Kei Nishikori, who had trouble with unorthodox veteran Sergiy Stakhovsky before advancing 6-4 6-7 (9-7) 6-1 7-6 (8-6).


Share

3 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world