| Thursday, 26 June 2008 Written by Alix Ramsay The ending may have been slightly confusing but the result was just what Andy Murray was looking for. He beat Xavier Malisse 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 and is through to the third round. As he pumped down his final ace on match point, Murray clenched his fist and yelped in victory but Malisse held his hand up and brought the celebration to a halt. Everyone stared at everyone else. The umpire, Lars Graff, waited for a moment. Murray filled the time by playing "keepy-uppy" (juggling a tennis ball with his feet), Malisse sat on his racquet and waited. After a while, Murray asked what was going on and that is when the confusion began. Graff thought Malisse had indicated he was not ready for play when Murray served; Malisse thought he had challenged the call on the serve (it was his only chance of stopping the inevitable by that stage). Eventually Hawk-Eye was brought into action, the ball was called good and Murray was declared the winner. It was never in doubt. In his heyday, Malisse reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2002, cutting through the draw with a dazzling display of shot-making that was only halted by David Nalbandian. Those days are long gone, however. Malisse has slipped to 94 in the rankings and it soon became apparent that the Belgian had nothing with which to hurt Scotland's finest. Slightly less fleet of foot than in days of yore, he was always chasing after shadows. He is still as unreliable as ever. There were flashes of his former talent, such as when he managed to break the Murray serve in the second set. But he could only hold it together for a handful of points and Britain's No.1 broke back immediately and continued the destruction. Malisse tried it again briefly in the third set as he attempted to apply pressure to Murray's serve, but the Scot served his way out of trouble and did not allow the Belgian another point in the match. From Murray's perspective, it was just the sort of convincing, straight-forward win that he wanted in the first week of the tournament. No reserves of energy expended, a swift 93-minute work-out to keep everything perfectly tuned and sharp and he would be back home in good time to walk the dog and watch the football. The crowd was none too sure what to make of it all. Brought up during the Tim Henman years, a decade of eye-wateringly tense tea-time encounters, with Henman doing his level best to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, they were not sure how to react to a British man playing much better than his opponent and sprinting into the third round. The object of their affections was trying out all the various aspects of his game – and there are plenty to choose from. He traded blows from the baseline and dusted off his ground strokes; he started feathering his trademark drop shots from the very first game; he served 16 of aces, the fastest at 136mph, and he scampered forward to polish off the volley when the opportunity presented itself. Malisse did not know what to expect next. Tommy Haas, Murray's next opponent, should have a better idea of what the Scot is capable of – the two have met twice before, with honours even. But this is Wimbledon, this is grass and with Murray in his current form and mood, this should be a winnable match.
| Centre Court - Gentlemen's Singles - 2nd Round | |
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