Britain’s Andy Murray took his winning run on clay to 10 matches with victory over France’s Jeremy Chardy at the Italian Open. The 3rd seed, who at first glance, considered skipping Rome to rest for the French Open, came through 6-4 6-3 at the Foro Italico.
He is now scheduled to meet 13th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga from France or David Goffin from Belgium in the last 16.
However, fellow Briton Heather Watson suffered a defeat 6-1 6-1 by Carla Suarez Navarro from Spain during the 2nd round.
Murray, 27, managed to beat Rafael Nadal on clay for the first time on Sunday to claim his 2nd clay-court title in a week.
The reason for the Scot to choose to play in Rome is to get match time at sea level, as opposed to the altitude of Munich and Madrid, and he appeared at ease in the new conditions.
“My legs were a bit tired at the start but they started to feel better after a few games,” said the Scot. “I played a good match.
“He has a big serve, it was tough for me. But I hung in, moved well and didn’t give him loads of opportunities. I served well throughout the match.
“I’m happy with how I adjusted to conditions, I made it difficult for him to win free points.
“I don’t know how my body will feel over the next days, but I’ll try to spend as much time recovering and resting as possible.”
Jeremy Chardy from France, ranked 38th, created the first opportunity with 2 break points at 3-2, but a spectacular backhand winner from Murray saved the first and set the tone for what was to follow. Murray managed to save the 2nd and then got the break himself with some wonderful backhands before closing out the set comfortably.
Another winner off that side gave him the breakthrough early in the 2nd set and a limp backhand into the net from Chardy offered up a 3rd and final break after an hour and 25 minutes.
4th seed Nadal responded to Sunday’s defeat by Murray with a 6-2 6-0 win over Turkey’s Marsel Ilhan, while 2nd seed Roger Federer takes on Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas later on Wednesday.
In the women’s draw, 2nd seed Simona Halep thrashed Alison Riske 6-3 6-0, Victoria Azarenka beat 5th seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 7-6 (7-2) and 6th seed Eugenie Bouchard saw off Zarina Diyas 6-3 6-4.
Murray beats Chardy at the Italian Open
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