Tonight:
5°c
Andy Murray headed straight for the practice courts after struggling to adapt to the conditions during his shaky 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 second-round victory over Jeremy Chardy at the Cincinnati Masters.
Murray won the Toronto Masters last week but the surface at this hard-court event is much faster and that has proved tricky for the world No4 and a number of other players, including Rafael Nadal.
The Briton's exertions in Canada appeared to catch up with him against Chardy but his concerns meant he continued working after the match to ensure he was more at ease with the surface when he faces world No27 Ernests Gulbis tonight.
“It's difficult,” said Murray. “You don't have a whole lot of time to get used to the conditions here. They're very tough. The balls are moving a lot quicker than they did at Toronto and maybe that's why my timing was off a little bit. I'm going to hit some balls and try and get in a rhythm again.”
Murray eased through last night's first set — he didn't face a break point in the first 14 games — and led 5-4 in the second before he ran into problems. Chardy broke his serve and then became more aggressive to run off five straight points and win the tie-break.
The match turned back Murray's way in the third set when Chardy had treatment on a foot injury. The world No58 was trailing 2-1 at the time and lost his serve on his return to the court.
Chardy, who made 52 unforced errors, never recovered but Murray was not totally satisfied with his victory.
“I didn't serve particularly well but it was more how I was hitting the ball from the back of the court at the end of the second set [that was the problem],” said Murray. “I was hitting the ball short, I wasn't moving my legs at all and he got into a bit of a rhythm.
“I had to step it up in the third set and thankfully I did. The first and third sets were good but the second wasn't.”
Murray has won all four of his contests against Gulbis and knocked him out of last year's US Open. But the Latvian reached this year's French Open quarter-finals and Murray is not taking him lightly.
“Gulbis is a good player,” said the Scot. “He's got a big game, a bit like Chardy but maybe with better feel. I'll have to play well to beat him.”
Although Nadal's passage to the third round was more straightforward than Murray he voiced the same concerns over the court. Following his 6-2, 7-5 win over American Taylor Dent, the world No1 said: “It is something that the tournaments should work to make the courts more similar.
“For us it's difficult to get used to, especially if you only have one or two days. When you get to semi-finals or a final it's not easy to adapt.”
“So it's big change. This first match is always very dangerous,” he said.
Roger Federer went through after his Uzbeki opponent, Denis Istomin, had to retire with an ankle injury when 5-2 down in the first set.
