Andy Murray claimed straight-sets win over India’s Yuki Bhambri in Melbourne in his Australian Open campaign start. The match was on 19/01/2015 at 2:10 GMT and the Briton, seeded sixth, won 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-3) in two hours 12 minutes on Margaret Court Arena. Murray, 27, had to recover from 4-1 down in the third set but controlled the tie-break to seal victory. Bhambri, 22, was the lowest-ranked player in the draw at 317 but managed to test Murray at times.
There was a worrying moment for Murray when he stumbled awkwardly behind the baseline on the first point of the second set, but the 27-year-old did not appear to suffer a significant injury. It looked as though another lapse in concentration would prove costly when Murray fell 15-40 down in the eighth game of the second set, but he rattled off the next four points in a row and soon secured the set 6-4 for a two-set lead. Despite that commanding position, Murray was clearly unhappy with his own performance, loudly decrying his own “shocking movement” as he fell 30-40 behind on his serve in the fourth game of the next set. Murray was keeping up a near-constant verbal attack against himself as he fell 4-1 behind, but it at least appeared to do the trick as he managed to break back.
“I thought it was a good start,” the Scot told BBC Sport. “I thought he played well; he was very aggressive and he was right up on the baseline the whole match.
“That made it difficult because it didn’t give me much rhythm or a lot of time.
“But I thought I served very well the whole match – that was the most pleasing thing for me. Hopefully I’ll get a little bit better and a bit quicker after my serve and after my returns.”
Scottish tennis ace Andy Murray Monday said India’s Yuki Bhambri was a much better player than his ranking suggested:
“(He played well) the whole match. He made it very difficult,” the Scot said.
“The whole match he made it very difficult,” admitted British No 1 Murray. “He played very aggressive, he is very talented and he made it tough. “I’d never hit with him or seen him play before which made it tricky. He had a bad injury last year and should not be ranked 300 in the world. I expect to see him much higher this year.”
“I didn’t serve well last year,” Murray added. “I tried to make some changes after coming back from surgery and it didn’t help at all. “I went back to serving how I used to and that’s really helped me. I’ve felt a lot more comfortable.”
Andy Murray will play Australia’s Marinko Matosevic in the second round on Wednesday.
Andy Murray vs. Yuki Bhambri: Head to Head Matches
Andy Murray vs. Marinko Matosevic: Head to Head Matches
Australian Open 2015: Murray opens with a win over India's Yuki Bhambri
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