Slicing through the field: Andy Murray looks hungry in Madrid and appears to have put a rocky spell behind himAndy Murray was far removed yesterday from all the razzmatazz that accompanied Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane turning up at the Madrid Open to pay homage to Rafael Nadal.
By the time Murray walked on to the secondary arena at the Caja Magica (Magic Box), the footballers had long since departed, having watched Spain's king of clay ease his way through to the third round before an adoring public.
You could hardly blame the galacticos, because it was a perishingly cold early evening more reminiscent of Clachnacuddin in February that saw the British No 1 attempt to spark his season back into life.
This he managed to do, dispatching Argentina's world No 51 Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-3 in 73 minutes as he searched for - and, one hopes, found - some momentum ahead of the French Open, which begins a week on Sunday. Murray said: 'I'm quite pleased with that. I hit the ball as cleanly as I have done in a long while and was able to dictate the rallies.'
If Murray manages to get through to the quarter-finals by beating Romanian No 1 Victor Hanescu today, one will be tempted to think we may be seeing a resumption of normal service after the struggles of the past three months.
Firing on all cylinders: MurrayThe Scot, who will be 23 on Saturday, feels at home here, and not just because of the unseasonal chill. He lived in Spain as a teenager and won this tournament at this same Masters level when it was played indoors.
As it now takes place on clay, that is unlikely to happen this week, especially with Nadal in such imperious form, but any signs of the sharpness last seen at the Australian Open would be most welcome.
Murray began in devastating fashion, winning 12 of the first 13 points to secure two early breaks, and while his first serve percentage was below 40 in the first set, there was some glorious shot-making throughout.
Although he had beaten Chela in their last four meetings, the match-up was potentially awkward as the South American had come through qualifying and was well attuned to the altitude. While the atmosphere within this hideously ugly, metallic new stadium was flat, the ball tends to fly through the thinner air and Murray mastered its demands with admirable aplomb.
Chela brings to mind Michael Stich in facial terms and body shape, but he has none of the German's beautifully fluent style, relying instead on groundstrokes and a serve that are cranky but effective.
The one period when he exerted pressure came as Murray struggled early in the second set, but otherwise it was an encouraging performance, given that the most important phase of the season is approaching. With patient rallying and skilful use of the drop shot, it was again easy to think there is no reason why Murray cannot do extremely well on clay, if only he himself can believe it is possible.
With the women also trying to hit their straps ahead of Roland Garros, plenty of eyes were on a potential grudge match between Serbia's Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic. Relations between them, never the easiest, were recently stretched by Ivanovic's failure to turn up for a home Fed Cup match, while Jankovic made a tortuous journey all the way from America to play.
In the end there was little between them other than a certain froideur in what was a chill wind, and Jankovic won 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
source: dailymail
