Murray blitzes Sousa to reach Dubai Open quarter-finals
DUBAI, UAE (AFP) — Andy Murray scored his most one-sided victory for eight months and his easiest win over a top-50 player for nearly six years when he trounced Joao Sousa, the Portuguese number one, 6-0, 6-2.
His rapid fire win yesterday books a place in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Open.
It lasted less than an hour and confirmed the impression that the former Wimbledon and US Open champion is a far fitter and more confident player now than at any time during 2014, and capable once again of winning big titles.
Murray served more consistently than in his opening match, applied consistent pressure whilst playing within himself, and had the match completely under control from the moment he broke serve early in the second set.
The unfortunate Sousa, ranked 50, was increasingly rattled into more errors, and did not get on to the scoreboard until the ninth game after which he very briefly showed glimpses of the form which once took him inside the top 40
“Today I thought I just picked the right shots and played the right way when he was struggling,” Murray said.
“I didn’t give him any free points. I didn’t make, you know, just sort of needless errors.
“You know, I wasn’t just going for shots just because I was up 4-0. I thought I made good decisions and didn’t give him anything for free, and he was getting more frustrated because he couldn’t get any free points and then was going for more and more shots and obviously making more errors because of it.”
The only negative feelings after his quietly rapid performance came when a questioner inadvertently reminded Murray of criticisms he received here three years ago when he admitted after a defeat that he had used the match for practice. Were there areas of his game he was trying to work on, he was now asked.
“It’s funny how, when you win matches, it’s okay to say you’re trying something out, and when you lose matches, you’re not allowed to say that,” Murray replied with an edge to his voice, explaining that “I am a wee bit careful when I say about trying out things, because of when I was here a few years ago”.
Murray gained his biggest cheer when he hinted he might wear a kilt for his wedding to Kim Sears, the daughter of a well-known English coach in a few weeks’ time.