Tomic tumbles at Sony Open
UPDATE: Andy Murray has advanced to the third round of the Sony Open in Miami after brushing aside Australia's Bernard Tomic 6-3 6-1 on Saturday.
Miami, United States, 24 March 2013 | AFP
Reigning Olympic and US Open champion Andy Murray advanced to the third round of the Sony Open in Miami after brushing aside Australia’s Bernard Tomic 6-3 6-1 on Saturday.
Tomic managed to win only 10 points in the final set of the 56-minute match.
“I didn’t play very good in the second set,” acknowledged Tomic, who is also teaming with Davis Cup teammate Lleyton Hewitt in doubles in Miami.
“I didn’t feel at 100 per cent, I tried my best but it was not good enough. I’ve had some sort of flu for the last few days, I can’t breath through my nose and I lose energy quickly on court.
“I felt good in my first round, but I must have slept under too much A/C. The match was played in very hot conditions, and I was soon struggling. After losing the first set it was going to be really difficult to come back from a set down.”
World No.2 Murray, who lost to top-ranked Novak Djokovic in last year’s final, will face either Italy’s Simone Bolelli or Bulgarian 29th seed Grigor Dimitrov in his next match.
The Scotsman hopes to claim his second Miami crown after lifting the 2009 trophy with a victory over Djokovic in the final.
Murray remained perfect against Tomic, the youngest player in the ATP top 100 at age 20, after having won their only prior meeting 6-3 6-2 last year in the semifinals of the Brisbane International.
Murray broke in the fifth game and then held serve for a 4-2 lead, taking full advantage of 14 unforced errors in the first six games by Tomic.
Tomic netted a backhand to hand Murray a second break, and the first set, in the ninth game of the match.
The Aussie hit back-to-back double faults to surrender a break to Murray and fall behind 3-1 in the second set. Murray broke for the fourth time to seize a 5-1 lead and then held to take the match, closing it out with his eighth ace.