The weather got muggy on Sunday, and with it, Murray still looked sluggish against his second Mayer in a row. In the second round, he faced Leonardo Mayer, an Argentine with a big serve and big forehand. Florian Mayer is a German, who plays two hands on the volley, and likes to crowd the baseline, often sitting at no-man’s land.
Against Mayer, Murray had more time to more around and hit, but the first set was error-prone, as Murray was struggling keeping his shots on the court. In the post-match interview, Murray said that Mayer’s style was so strange that it caused him to lose rhythm. Murray won the first set in a tiebreak, so he didn’t drop another set like he did in the previous round.
By the second set, Murray was hitting the ball better, not missing as much, and able to take some good shots. With Mayer unable to pressure him, Murray had comfortable win, 7-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Djokovic routing Sousa
Sousa is one of the few Portuguese players. He certainly has speed, and can hit shots, but Djokovic is that much better at moving. Djokovic is running away with the match, leading 6-0, 6-2, 3-0. He looks much sharper than, say, Murray, who looks the weakest of the “big 4”.
Veterans win
Lleyton Hewitt backed up his defeat of del Potro by beating the new Russian up-and-comer, Evgeny Donskoy, winning in four sets.
He’ll have Mikhail Youzhny who upset Tommy Haas in four sets. This section of the draw is “old man” tennis with Hewitt at 32, Youzhny at 31, and Haas at 35.
Last American standing
Can Smyczek close the deal? His opponent, Marcel Granollers, has played two consecutive 5-setters, and now he’s playing his third. Smyzcek just broke to take the lead in the fifth set. If he wins, he keeps intact a record for American males reaching the round of 16.