Murray sails into French Open fourth round

Sport360 staff 16:24 30/05/2015
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  • Andy Murray returns the ball to Nick Kyrgios during the men's third round at Roland Garros.

    Andy Murray brutally crushed Nick Kyrgios’s hopes of shaking up the old order at the French Open Saturday with a straight-sets win to reach the last-16.

    Third-seeded Murray, twice a semi-finalist in Paris, cruised to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory, capitalising on the 20-year-old Australian’s inconsistency which saw thunderous, flashy winners annulled by silly errors.

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    Kyrgios, the 29th seed and bidding to add a first French Open last-16 place to his runs to the 2014 Wimbledon and 2015 Australian Open quarter-finals, wasn’t helped by requiring a medical timeout for an injury to his right arm late in the second set.

    Murray, who fired 12 aces and 45 winners while Kyrgios was undone by 37 unforced errors, goes on to face either Belgian 17th seed David Goffin or unseeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy for a place in the quarter-finals.

    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.

    “It was a tough match. Nick really goes for the big shots,” said Murray.

    “But I used variety and slice, tried to mix it up to break his rhythm and it seemed to work.

    “He wasn’t helped by struggling with his arm injury.”

    After a tight first set, Murray carved out a double break in the second to put himself firmly in the driving seat, his overall court craft and angles exploiting the weaknesses of his opponent.

    Despite his bandaged right forearm, Kyrgios broke for a 2-1 lead in the third before surrendering the advantage in the next game.

    His frustration caused him to launch a ball out of Court Suzanne Lenglen which led to a warning for a code violation.

    Kyrgios’s defeat leaves fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, the world number 84 making his debut at the tournament on a wildcard, with the thankless task of upsetting world number one Novak Djokovic on Court Philippe Chatrier.

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