Saturday 30 May 2015 18:02, UK
Andy Murray booked his place in the French Open fourth round with a straight sets win over Australia's Nick Kyrgios on Saturday.
In an entertaining match full of flair, both players tested their opponents guile with numerous drop-shots, lobs and a couple of hot-dog shots being witnessed on the Suzanne Lenglen Court by the French fans.
Kyrgios is considered one of the most talented players on the circuit but the 20-year-old was too inconsistent to trouble the British No 1, who came through 6-4 6-2 6-3.
It was 28-year-old Murray's third successive win over Kyrgios, all without dropping a set, as he took his record on clay this year to 13-0.
"Tough match because he was going for huge shots," said Murray, a losing semi-finalist to Rafael Nadal last year. He noted that Kyrgios' arm problem, for which he was treated and got taping and massage in the second set, "slowed down his serve which is one of his biggest weapons."
"That helped me," said Murray.
Decisive break
In the seventh game, Kyrgios hit a stunning lob through his legs which had the crowd inside the stadium on their feet, but moments later a backhand into the net and a forehand wide gave Murray the decisive break he needed to serve out the set.
After 10 games of drop shots, lobs and double faults the contest began to flatten out and a brilliant backhand winner from Murray secured another break in the fifth game of the second set.
The umpire came down to check the mark but Kyrgios, always ready to please the crowd, knew it was good and waved him back.
The Australian should have hit back immediately in the next game when, after opening up two break points, a poor Murray drop shot gave him the whole court to find a winner but the youngster somehow ballooned it long.
Treatment
Murray never looked back, sealing another break via a wild Kyrgios backhand and serving out the set with ease before his opponent called for treatment on his right arm.
Murray lost his first service game in the third set but he broke back immediately, prompting Kyrgios to slam the ball out of the stadium in frustration, for which he was given a warning.
Thereafter, there was little to trouble Murray as Kyrgios produced the occasional winner to keep the crowd enthralled, but the errors were far more frequent and Murray was able to break again to seal a comfortable win in one hour and 59 minutes.
"Andy is one of the best defenders at the moment," said Kyrgios, who knocked Rafael Nadal out of Wimbledon last year and beat Roger Federer in Madrid this month.
"But I wasn't near 100 per cent today."
