Andy Murray sets up quarter-final clash with Djokovic
Briton impressive despite sort back against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Even with his surgically repaired back still nowhere near perfect, defending champion Andy Murray needed only 73 minutes to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-1 at the Sony Open on Tuesday to set up a quarterfinal with Novak Djokovic.
“My game is getting there,” said Murray, the No 6 seed, who acknowledged he was dealing with a sore back. “The last six sets I’ve played, very high-level tennis, very few errors.”
He’ll need to keep it that way against Djokovic, who eased past Tommy Robredo 6-3, 7-5.
The last six sets I’ve played, very high-level tennis, very few errors.
The second-seeded Djokovic even gave back a point in the second set. A groundstroke from Robredo clipped the baseline and Djokovic couldn’t handle it, but the ball was erroneously called out. After a review showed the ball was in, the point was ordered to be replayed.
Djokovic shouted “It’s OK, it’s OK” as the fans applauded his sportsmanship.
“For me, it’s something that is part of the sport, fair play,” Djokovic said. “I expect everybody else to do the same. Of course, not everybody’s the same, but for me, that’s something that’s normal. Just a normal, natural reaction.”
Top-seeded Rafael Nadal downed 14th-seeded Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-2. Nadal has dropped a total of nine games in six sets so far in this tournament.
Singles players with a combined 66 Grand Slam victories were in action on Tuesday, including Roger Federer – a winner of 17 of them himself. And he looked very much like the Federer of old, needing only 49 minutes to beat ninth-seeded Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-2.