There was to be no repeat of last night’s dramatics when a former champion was stunned under the lights on Arthur Ashe. Andy Murray managed to avoid the same fate as Rafael Nadal, who lost a brutal five-setter to Fabio Fognini, against the hard-hitting Brazilian lefty Thomaz Bellucci. Murray overcame a quick start from his opponent and some inspired hitting in the later stages to advance to the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 victory.
Murray comes from behind to take opener
It was Bellucci who got out of the blocks quicker, breaking Murray for a 2-1 lead in the first set. However, five straight missed serves from 40-30 in the fourth gave game allowed Murray to break back on a Bellucci second serve. Bellucci managed to keep the set on serve during a brutal eighth game, saving four break points, but couldn’t survive another Murray assault two games later and was broken. In the opening set, the Brazilian took more initiative than his Scottish opponent, spending more time on offence. But he was tense under pressure and Murray was stellar on defence which allowed him to take the set 6-3.
Dominant second set from the Brit
The second set was all Murray, as he found himself putting more pressure on Bellucci, pressure under which the Brazilian cracked. He struggled to keep the ball in play and was broken twice as Murray ran away with the set 6-2. Murray had two chances to break to open the third set, but Belluci fought him off. The next ten games were hard hitting tennis, with both players taking their turns to push their opponents around.
Murray closes it out
They exchanged hot shots to close out their respective service games at 3-2 and 3-3, with Bellucci winning possibly the point of the night with a volley winner to end a tight net exchange to take a 4-3 lead. But, like the first set, Bellucci seemed to run out of tricks and was broken to love at 5-5. Murray would convert his second match point to take the set 7-5 and the match.
When Bellucci was on form, he was arguably the better player, often keeping Murray pinned behind the baseline in defensive positions. However, the three seed managed to keep everything in play and often hit some unbelievable shots from defensive positions. By keeping rallies long, he managed to wear down Bellucci, who could only keep up with Murray’s powerful, consistent strokes for so long. And despite putting good pressure on the Brit, he struggled to get the ball past the Scot, only hitting twenty-two winners to the Scot’s thirty-two.
Nerves also seemed to play a factor, as Bellucci hit far too many errors at key moments. He also made very few inroads on the Murray serve, only reaching break point twice, both times in the third game of the first set. After converting his second break point, Bellucci did not get another chance at breaking Murray. The three seed had thirteen break points, converting five. Bellucci took his chances and left it all on the court. He simply didn’t have enough to break down the world number three.
Murray, the 2012 champion, goes on to face South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in the round of sixteen. Anderson defeated Austria’s Dominic Thiem in straight sets earlier in the day.