Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Andy Murray overcame an error-strewn performance to beat German qualifier Michael Berrer 6-3,4-6,6-4 in the first round of the Dubai Championships on Tuesday.
Fourth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also survived a tight match against Marcos Baghdatis,beating the 46th-ranked Cypriot 7-6 2,6-4 to set up a second-round encounter with Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic.
The third-seeded Murray lost his opening service game,but broke back twice to claim the first set. He was saved by his serve which produced three aces and kept the 116th-ranked German off balance.
Berrer dominated the second set,displaying an improved service game and more aggressive play that forced Murray into a slew of unforced errors. Murray went up 3-2 only to see Berrer break back when he hit a volley into the net. Berrer broke Murray to force the decider when the 24-year-old Briton made four unforced errors. After hitting a backhand into the net,Murray punched his leg and muttered to himself.
The first four games of the third set went against serve. Berrer then went up 4-3 only to see Murray regain the momentum and win the final three games to clinch the match. Murray now faces Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli,who beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-4,5-7,6-4.
Sania ousted
Sania Mirza was shown an early exit in the first round of BMW Malaysian Open. The 26-year-old,who had just recovered from a knee injury in August,was defeated 2-6,6-1,4-6 by Eleni Danilidou of Greece.
