Murray safely through to round two – but Del Potro is waiting
Published:
Andy Murray was far from perfect in his first round French Open win over Andrey Kuznetsov, but the Scot did what was needed.
After a four-set win, the world number one will now face Martin Klizan in round two.
And at 1/10 for victory, Murray looks all-but assured to progress.
He’s met Klizan once before, prevailing in three sets in Vienna last year.
The 27-year-old Slovakian defeated defeated Wildcard entrant Laurent Lokoli in the opening round.
But despite being ranked some 270 places higher than his French opponent, the clash went a full five sets.
Murray is still battling illness, but remains odds-on at 8/13 to see off Klizan 3-0.
Should he suffer another wobble however, 11/4 on a 3-1 win should appeal to plenty.
But as professional as Murray is, he must have one eye on the looming third round 6ft 6in shadow which is Juan Martin del Potro.
The Argentine is back in business following his return to the ATP Tour last year.
But having been absent for so long, the popular 2009 US Open winner remains lodged down the rankings.
Del Potro opened with a confident defeat of clay specialist Guido Pella in the first round.
But he faces a potentially almighty scrap in round two, where another clay court supremo – Nicolas Almagro – awaits.
The Spaniard is a three-time French Open Quarter-Finalist and all 23 of his ATP Final appearances have come on the dirt.
Almagro can even count victory in his only previous clay court clash with Del Potro.
Victory for the Argentine then would give him plenty of momentum to take on Murray in round three, so the Scot may well hope Almagro can cause some problems.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
