Home hero Andy Murray gave value for money on a gloomy, rainy day at the Wimbledon Championships as the second seed beat Tommy Robredo 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 to move into the third round Friday under the Centre Court roof.
With under—achieving the name of the game so far this week — it’s already the worst in post-1968 grand slam history for women, with only four of the top 10 seeds reaching the third round — the Scot earned another straightforward victory.
The 2012 finalist extended his grass-court win streak to 14 matches as he controlled Spain’s Robredo, breaking late in the third set to assure the win in two hours.
“It was a high-level match. I struck the ball well and hit well from the back of the court,” Murray said.
“I had a few chances and managed to get the break point at the end. I hope I can keep playing better next week. I’ve been pushed in all of my three matches.” With Friday already facing a mild backlog of matches after Thursday evening rain, the second round was finally completed.
Fourth seed David Ferrer advanced over Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 and next faces Alexandr Dolgopolov, who beat Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.
Tommy Haas dispatched Taiwan’s qualifier Jimmy Wang 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. The 35-year-old German lost little time in ploughing through for his eighth career spot in the third round.
Haas is enjoying a resurgence after five surgeries for various ailments during his ATP career. His victories this week were his first at Wimbledon since 2009.
The winner of this spring’s Munich title on clay said he took his unheralded opponent with great seriousness.
“You can never underestimate any player out there,” Haas said. “I went out there, just tried to play my game. Again, I felt like I served pretty well and played solid in the right moments.” Slovenian Grega Zemlja will line up against Juan Del Potro this weekend after getting past Grigor Dimitrov 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4, 11-9.
Top seed Novak Djokovic plays Jeremy Chardy, who defeated German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-4).
In the third round, Jurgen Melzer earned revenge for good friend Roger Federer as he hammered the man who beat the seven-time champion a round earlier, sending Sergiy Stakhovsky home 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.
In the women’s second round, Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, back from injury, upset German seventh seed Angelique Kerber 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, while British number one Laura Robson inspired home crowds with her defeat of qualifier Mariana Duque-Marino 6-4, 6-1 under the Centre Court roof.
2007 finalist Marion Bartoli, seeded 15th, won a third-round match over Camila Giorgi 6-4, 7-5, leading Carla Suarez Navarro, Flavia Pennetta, Kirsten Flipkens and Karin Knapp to wins.
