Andy Murray had little trouble taking his seventh consecutive tour-level victory on Wednesday at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The second seed needed 75 minutes to beat Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-2 and improve his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Johnson to 3-0.
The American had forced Murray to pull out a third-set tie-break the last time they played, at the Rio Olympics. But Murray was on from the start of their second-round match in Shanghai. The Brit saved the only break point he faced in the first set and never gave Johnson a look at another one. The two-time Shanghai champion also feasted on Johnson's second serve, winning 70 per cent of his second-serve return points (14/20).
“I felt like I was creating a lot of chances on his serve. I thought I moved well for the first match in new conditions,” said Murray, who received a first-round bye. “I was timing the ball well. I felt like I was controlling a lot of the rallies. Yeah, for a first match after playing pretty different conditions a few days ago, it was good.”
Murray moves into the third round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, where he'll face Frenchman Lucas Pouille for the second time. The Brit claimed their earlier contest, 6-2, 6-1 win at Rome. “I don't think he played particularly well that day. But it was a good match for me. Hopefully I can play well tomorrow,” Murray said.
Pouille survived a tight second-round affair against unseeded Nicolas Almagro, needing 90 minutes to beat the Spaniard 6-4, 7-6(10). Pouille, the 13th seed, won 75 per cent of his service points, including 66 per cent of his second-serve points.
Fifteenth seed Roberto Bautista Agut advanced 6-4, 6-4 against American qualifier Taylor Fritz, a member of the ATP Next Generation. Both players didn't give any breaks away. Bautista Agut saved all seven break points faced; Fritz erased eight of 10.
The Spaniard will meet Serbian Viktor Troicki in the third round. Troicki stunned Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6(3).
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