Murray Manages Mannarino to Move on at U.S. Open
The third-seeded Andy Murray got by Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 in Flushing Meadows on Thursday in three hours and 17 minutes. Battling the heat and humidity, Murray overcame a two-set deficit in his 11th appearance at the U.S. Open, upping his overall Open record to 39-9.
“We need to believe, for a start, which is not always easy,” said Murray. “Obviously I had quite a few opportunities, I felt. You know, I think I was one for seven on break points or something. Like in the first set, 6-5, I had Love-40 on his serve there to get back into it. I just wasn't able to break at any of the important moments, unfortunately. I just had to kind of tell myself that I would get there eventually. I managed to turn it around.”
Murray is riding the momentum of a win over Novak Djokovic at the ATP Masters 1000 in Montreal, Murray’s fourth title of the year and 35th overall.
Up next for Murray in round three is the number 30 seed, Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, a 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 winner on the day over Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka. Bellucci has the only victory in one career meeting with Murray, a victory back in 2011 at the Madrid Masters event in Spain.
“I expect a tough match,” said Murray of Bellucci. “I would imagine he's pretty close to his career-high ranking just now. He's played well this year. Plays predominantly from the back of the court. But he's an aggressive player. He likes to try and dictate the points from the back. Like I say, he's had some good results this year. Won two matches here very comfortably. So, yeah, I expect a tough match and one that I'll need to, you know, play very well to win.”
