PARIS: Andy Murray opened his latest campaign for a first French Open victory with a 6-3 6-3 6-1 win over Argentine Facundo Argueello on Monday.
Black-clad and business-like, the world number three’s power, poise and new-found confidence on clay proved too much for the 22-year-old lucky loser who was playing only the second grand slam match of his career.
“I was nervous today. It’s always like that in the first round of a major tournament. It shows that you care,” the Briton said.
Murray is in the same half of the Roland Garros draw as favourite Novak Djokovic and nine-times champion Rafa Nadal and could play world number eight David Ferrer in the quarter-finals.
Although he has two grand slam titles under his belt already, on the U.S. Open hard courts in 2012 and the grass of Wimbledon in 2013, the 28-year-old Scot has yet to lift the trophy on the red dirt courts of Roland Garros.
But after landing warmup titles on the same surface in Munich and Madrid, the latter with an emphatic win over Nadal, Murray is now unbeaten in 11 matches.
Meanwhile, Fourth seed Tomas Berdych showed no mercy to Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round of the French Open on Monday, defeating the teenager 6-0, 7-5, 6-3 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The left-handed Nishioka, who retired ill in the first round of last year’s US Open in his only previous major appearance, did however recover from a disastrous start to put up a spirited fight against the Czech star.
Berdych required less than half an hour to win the opening set but Nishioka held his serve at the start of the second and even had a break point opportunity in the following game.
Berdych, a semifinalist at Roland Garros in 2010, recovered to hold his serve and eventually claimed the set after 47 minutes, Nishioka’s fighting performance ultimately proving to be in vain.
Nishioka did not give up though, saving three break points at the beginning of the third set and coming back to win the game with a delightful lob from the baseline with his opponent stranded at the net.
But Berdych’s class told in the end as he converted the first of two match points in the ninth game of the set.
“There are still a lot of places to improve which is good. It is always good to have the first one down and now I’ll just keep focusing on my next opponent,” Berdych, who could face compatriot Radek Stepanek in the next round, said on-court at the end of the match. Meanwhile, it was a chastening day on Court Two for Nishioka’s compatriot Tatsuma Ito, who was comfortably beaten in straight sets by the 28th seed Fabio Fognini.
Making his first appearance at Roland Garros since losing to Murray 3 years ago, the 27-year-old Ito was wiped out 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in just one hour, 33 minutes by the Italian. (Agencies)
