Murray will look for resumption of normal service as straight-sets win masks lacklustre opening

Sports Writer

Tuesday 28 August 2012

ALEX BOGOMOLOV Jr is known as the Bogeyman and it wasn't until halfway through this match that Andy Murray seemed to remember the old childhood rhyme that he was nothing to be afraid of.

Murray: 'I thought I was six or seven out of 10, I didn't serve particularly well but I still won in three'

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Stewart Fisher

The 29-year-old Russian has a wounding defeat of the world No.4 on his resume, recorded as recently as Miami in March last year, and as comfortable as the eventual 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 scoreline looks on paper, he subjected the Scot to a few shaky moments during their two hours and 15 minutes on court. The world No.73 broke the Murray serve a total of four times, two of them coming in the Scot's opening couple of service games. It is worth recalling that this is three times more than Roger Federer, the best player in the history of the sport, was capable of in last month's Olympic gold medal match, and it clearly wasn't what the 25-year-old had planned as he begins his attempt to become the first British male major winner for more than threequarters of a century.

There were even occasional hints of the old Andy Murray here, as he threw his racket to the court and muttered away in disgust at himself, with Ivan Lendl, the only other man in history to lose his first four grand slam finals, glowering away at him from the corner. But a bit like the torrential weather conditions at Flushing Meadows yesterday, the storms soon subsided and everything was sweetness and light by the end. As embarrassing as his start may have been, the Scot showed little inclination to beat up on himself afterwards. He said he would give himself "six or seven" out of 10 for the performance but had struggled on serve and to cope with conditions which were both humid and breezy. There was no sign of his recent knee problem, but he did cramp up during the third set, perhaps due to the fact he had played just three matches previously on hard courts, pulling out of Toronto prior to meeting Milos Raonic and losing to Jeremy Chardy in Cincinnati. "It was really, really humid today and I sweated a lot," the Scot said. "I thought I was six or seven out of 10, I didn't serve particularly well at the start of the match but I still won in three sets." At least he will have two days to rest up, rehydrate and get things out of his system, with his next match, against Ivan Dodig of Croatia, not likely to be played until Thursday. The big-serving Croat only gave up three games on his way past Hiroki Miroya.It was ultimately job done for Murray – he has never lost his opening match at the US Open – but his misfiring serve will have to be rectified if the Scot is to have a serene progress in the next round. His first-serve percentage ended on 49%, and during the first set was no better than 28%, particularly during a harum scarum opening which left the crowd on the Arthur Ashe arena at points wondering where to look. It is hard to be too critical after a straight-sets victory but Murray set high standards this summer and this was hardly the type of performance which will have Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic losing too much sleep. Bogomolov had reached the third round here 12 months ago, but this was his 12th first-round defeat in 16 grand slam attempts in a career which has had no shortage of upheaval. Having switched allegiance to the United States when his father, Alex Sr, moved to Miami in the early 1990s, he recently reverted back to the Russian flag. He suffered a high-profile divorce from the US professional turned Playboy model Ashley Harkleroad, and now has a young son called Maddox from his current relationship, and has a brief drugs ban on his record, having been suspended from the sport for one month in 2005 for taking the banned substance salbutamol, ostensibly as a treatment for asthma. He had to rebuild his career after serious wrist surgery in 2008, supplementing his income with coaching work at a tennis school in Gotham, New York.After an unusual opening in which the first four games all went against serve – with the two men frequently engaging in circus shots at the net – there was a sigh of relief for Murray when he saved another couple of break points to finally hold for 3-2. Another break of the Bogomolov serve followed, the set was taken 6-2 and the world suspected the Scot was on easy street. But instead, the 25-year-old seemed determined to make life difficult for himself. His serve was surrendered again at the opening of the second set, Murray having to fight long and hard to restore parity at 4-4 before seeing out the set. Even in the final set there was little sign of him going for the jugular, briefly allowing the game Bogomolov to break back for 2-1, before depriving the Russian of another game. Bogomolov might not have proved to be his Bogeyman but Murray was certainly below par.

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Murray will look for resumption of normal service as straight-sets win masks lacklustre opening

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