Murray passes Lu test

By Niall Clarke

  • Andy Murray defeated Yen-Hsun Lu 6-4,7-5 in his Aegon Championships opener
  • Faces Fernando Verdasco in the next round.

Andy Murray had his fair share of troubles, but the British number one battled past Yen Hsun Lu 6-4, 7-5 in his Queens opener.

Riding a wave of confidence after his best clay season to date, Murray entered Queens the favourite to take home the title for a fourth time.

However, his first round opponent Lu, from Chinese Tapei, gave the world number three a good match on centre court on Tuesday.

The world number 63’s best surface is the grass, and he soon showed why he made the Wimbledon quarter finals in 2010. A forehand passing shot down the line, caught the chalk dust and secured an early break for Lu.

The lead did not last long though, as Murray raised his level to break straight back. From that point, the set stayed even until the very end, when Lu threw in a poor service game to get broken for the set.

With the first set in the bag, many would have been expecting the British number one to take control of the match, but Lu came back strong and fighting.

The 31 year old broke early in the second set, and applied a little more pressure at 2-0 getting to deuce on the Murray serve. However he could not force a break point opportunity.

In the following game, Lu’s level dipped on serve yet again allowing Murray to break back and level the score in the second set.

Much like the first, it remained even until the very last game where Murray’s pressure finally began to take its toll. The Brit took his first match point by breaking his opponent at 6-5 in the second set, securing his passage in to the second round.

Overall it was a good test for Murray, who was outplayed in parts by a game Lu. Fortunately for the top seed, his opponent could not take advantage of the leads he earned in the first and second set.

With Murray applying pressure towards the end of each set, Lu cracked and the Brit came through a tough test in his opening match.

Murray will now face Fernando Verdasco in the second round, which will be another big test for the world number three.

Elsewhere today, Stan Wawrinka defeat a deflated Nick Kyrgios in straight sets, before defending champion Grigor Dimitrov finished off his match against Sam Querrey which was carried over from Monday night.

However, the biggest news from the day involved Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard was defeated by Alexandr Dogopolov in three sets in his opening round match.