US Open: Andy Murray beats Alex Bogomolov Jr in first round

 

US Open

  • Venue: Flushing Meadows
  • Dates: 27 August - 9 September

Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online; live text commentary on the day's best match

Britain's Andy Murray produced a patchy performance but still overcame Alex Bogomolov Jr to make the second round of the US Open with a 6-2 6-4 6-1 win.

Match Analysis

Image of Jonathan Overend Jonathan Overend BBC tennis correspondent

"It may have been scrappy but, as Murray rightly pointed out, it was a straight-sets win for the loss of only seven games. Sometimes these tricky workouts against opponents with plenty of pace and energy appear worse than they actually are. In hot, humid conditions, Murray got the job done and will undoubtedly raise his game as the tournament progresses. While his first serve lacked the accuracy of Wimbledon, some searing winners - three in the final game alone - gave an expectant taste of things to come this fortnight."

Murray's bid for a first Grand Slam title to go with his gold medal at London 2012 got off to a slow start.

He traded breaks with the Russian in the opening set, which he took by winning four games in a row.

Murray also had to battle to take the second set, but showed far more of his trademark finesse to wrap up the match.

His victory came in two hours and 15 minutes and contained some angry outbursts in the third set and an injury scare that he later put down to cramp.

Murray will meet Croatia's Ivan Dodig in round two, after the 27-year-old world number 118 demolished Japan's Hiroki Moriya 6-0 6-1 6-2.

The Scot, 25, will hope for a more consistent display next time, but he was happy to progress in windy conditions at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"I guess it wasn't the prettiest of matches, but it doesn't need to be at the beginning of the tournament," Murray told BBC Sport.

"You want to play your best tennis at the end if you can. I will need to improve, that's for sure. But aside from serving, I played pretty well."

Murray was certainly rusty early in the match, when neither player looked able to hold serve, and his form dipped in the second set when he was unable to overcome Bogomolov's somewhat limited game-plan.

Bogomolov made frequent use of his huge forehand but it was Murray's mistakes that meant he trailed 4-2 and was on the brink of going a double break down before again embarking on a four-game run.

Match stats

Murray Bogomolov

7

Aces

1

132mph

Fastest serve

122mph

49%

First serves

72%

46

Winners

24

31

Unforced errors

35

9/19

Break points

4/12

18/25

Net pts

28/42

Murray's only stumble in a one-sided third set came when Bogomolov broke back at 2-0. But the British number one then produced his best tennis of the day to finish the match with a flourish.

"The conditions were tricky. It was very windy," Murray added. "It's slower out there. It's about getting used to playing on that court when it's breezy and you have to do a lot of running and defending.

"I struggled with that but did well when I needed to. 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 and there were a lot more rallies.

"It was very, very hot and tough conditions today. You want to try to win the matches as quickly as possible."