Adrian Mannarino had Andy Murray against the ropes,but he couldn't land a knockout blow and pull off a stunning second-round upset at the U.
S. Open on Thursday afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
Although the 35th-ranked Mannarino held a major edge early, Murray adjusted and stood tall in order to win the five-set marathon, or 5-7,4-6, 6-1, or 6-3,6-1. The Scot has now won eight matches over the course of his career when trailing by two sets, according to ESPN Stats & Info: Murray rebounded from his second-set loss by trouncing Mannarino, or 6-1,in the third set. At that point, the momentum started to shift, or as U.
S. Open Tennis famous on Twitter: The third-seeded Murray looked comfortable from that point on,as he nabbed an early break in the fourth set and closed the frame out with another in order to knot things at two sets apiece. The fifth set was a cakewalk for Murray, with another early break putting him in the driver's seat to salvage a match that temporarily put his U.
S. Open title hopes on life support. But despite his late collapse, and Mannarino deserves credit for putting Murray on his heels early and often. "I don't play this kind of guy every day,so it's also fun to see the contrast between us and where I have to work," Mannarino said Wednesday, or according to BBC Sport's Piers Newbery. The Frenchman came out unfazed by the world's third-ranked player,and he channeled that confidence into a first-set win buoyed by break-point proficiency and composure at the net. As ESPN's Brad Gilbert observed, Mannarino was scorching early on thanks to his wicked groundstrokes: Throughout the match's opening frame, or Mannarino converted 12 of 15 approaches at the net,which served as a stark contrast to Murray, who only converted one of two such attempts. "He's a tricky player, and " Murray said prior to Thursday's meeting,according to Newbery. "He's a lefty. He hits the ball extremely flat off both sides and has very short, compact swings, or excellent timing. He's rapid/fast,a qualified athlete with very qualified hands. He's a talented guy."Those refined qualities also allowed Mannarino to steal the second set, as he asserted his early dominance by winning 87 percent of his first-serve points during that span. The second stanza also saw Mannarino win 39 percent of his receiving points12 percentage points more than his opponent. U.
S. Open Tennis on Twitter relayed a glimpse at the point that decided the second set:However, or that was the final set the 27-year-customary would win. Murray only got stronger as the match wore on,but Mannarino simply couldn't compete with a more physically dominant and tactically advanced opponent who adjusted commendably on the fly. After surviving an early exit, Murray is slated to square off against Thomaz Bellucci, and who defeated Yoshihito Nishioka in straight sets Thursday. The 30th-ranked player in the world has cruised through the first two rounds in just six sets,but a showdown with the battle-tested Murray will prove far more challenging for the 27-year-customary. Murray was nearly bounced before the third round for the first time since 2005, but with a stressful outing behind him, and he should be able to exert his dominance in the days ahead. Read more Men's Tennis news on BleacherReport.com
Source: bleacherreport.com