This year Andy has many eyes watching him after winning the gold medal. He knows it, he is flattered, but know he has to cope with an additional pressure. Andy once again wasn’t very lucky in his draw to be in the collision path with Raonic, Tsonga and Federer. Furthermore he didn’t have the easiest opener. Bogolomov Jr. is not at Andy’s level, but he is a not so easy for a 1st round in a Slam.
The match eventually lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes with lots (too many) break points from both sides. Murray conceded 12 break points to be broken 4 times (too much!) while the Russian faced 19 break points (he saved 10).
Andy service games were shocking. He double faulted 5 times, and he had a 49% of first serves in.
Murray had also a bit of a struggle in the 2nd set when he had to rally from a break down to finally win it 6-4. Even if the Scott didn’t play at his usual level the difference was too big.
“Only lost seven games in three sets, so I must have done something well today,” reflected Murray. “I played fairly well from the back of the court. I just would have liked to have served a bit better because I wasn’t getting many free points on my serve. Because of that, there were a lot more rallies. When he’s in a rhythm, he’s tough to break down.”
Murray will play Dodig n the second round. The Croatian demolished Japan’s Hiroki Moriya 6-0, 6-1, 6-2. Dodig sounds very happy to play the seed no.3 in the next match. “For me it’s great,” said Dodig, “I will be really, really happy to play on a big court. I have some experience with some other guys, but with him it’s the first time for me… Of course it’s going to be tough, but I have to focus on my game and try to play my best on the court.”
This will be the first time they play each other.
