Foe's trick shot not enough
MELBOURNE, Australia — It was the first game of Andy Murray’s match Saturday against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and the 2010 finalist was doing his best to get into the feel of the Australian Open third-round match.
Hitting a high lob to the back of the court, he watched as Garcia-Lopez ran it down and, facing the back of the court, hit a between-the-legs shot that passed Murray for a winner.
“It was the first time someone passed me on a through-the-legs shot on the tour,” Murray said. “It was a very close one on the line.”
Instead of marveling too long at one of the more unusual shots in tennis — like Roger Federer’s similar crosscourt winner against Novak Djokovic at the 2009 U.S. Open — Murray broke the Spanish player’s serve and went on to beat Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.
Garcia-Lopez might have had the most flamboyant shot of the match, but Murray had more of the most effective ones, putting him closer to his second straight Australian Open final.
“The first game doesn’t always dictate the way the match is going to go, but it definitely helped today,” said Murray, who lost the 2010 final to Federer. He’s only dropped 17 games through three rounds.
In other men’s results, No. 1 Rafael Nadal topped Bernard Tomic 6-2, 75, 6-3, No. 4 Robin Soderling advanced, as did Marin Cilic, who beat American John Isner in five sets.
U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters, meanwhile, beat Alize Cornet 7-6 (3), 6-3 of France, who is getting closer to winning her second Grand Slam in a row.
Cornet, trying to celebrate her 21st birthday, provided a tougher challenge for Clijsters, who had only conceded four games in her first two rounds. The French player was presented with a birthday bouquet of flowers after the match, a small consolation for losing to one of the tournament favorites.
“It was tough. She’s a tricky player,” Clijsters said. “During the match I felt like I was playing two different persons. I had to constantly move my feet, and work harder.”
Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva kept alive her bid for a third consecutive Grand Slam final with a 6-3, 7-6 (9) win over Lucie Safarova.
Zvonareva, who lost the U.S. Open final to Clijsters, served for the match twice against Safarova but was extended to the tiebreaker. Safarova led 4-2 and 5-3 in the tiebreaker before Zvonareva finally sealed it on her fourth match point.
Zvonareva has a chance to move into the No. 1 ranking her by winning the title. Her priority now is getting past a fourth-round match against Iveta Benesova, who beat No. 16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.
French Open finalist Sam Stosur lost 7-6 (5), 6-3 to No. 25 Petra Kvitova, ending Australia’s hopes in the women’s draw.
No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska beat Simona Halep 6-1, 6-2, and No. 10 Shahar Peer lost 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 to No. 22 Flavia Pennetta.
