Top-ranked Murray wins 6-4 6-2 6-4 on Hisense Arena
Friday 20 January 2017 23:49, UK
Andy Murray was back in tip-top form as he extinguished the threat of big-serving Sam Querrey to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open on Friday.
Murray avoided following six-time champion Novak Djokovic out of the tournament thanks to a ruthless display of counter-punch tennis against the American, ranked 32, who has previously enjoyed giant-killing form at Grand Slam level.
Querrey, who stunned Djokovic at Wimbledon last year, could not contain the aggression, speed and defensive athleticism shown by the Scot on Hisense Arena.
Any concerns of the state of Murray's right ankle, which he rolled painfully during his second-round win over Andrey Rublev, was quickly dispelled early on during a routine 6-4 6-2 6-4 victory in one minute shy of two hours.
"It was a tough match, especially in the first set. He was hitting the ball huge and served extremely well," said Murray. "A key moment at 3-4 in the first set when I saved a break point and managed to break in the next game. I had the momentum after that.
"I felt better and better as the match went on in terms of my movement. I was a little bit hesitant at the beginning because [my ankle] was a little bit sore, but I was moving well at the end so it's very positive."
Murray, who is now odds-on favourite for the title, will meet Mischa Zverev - the older brother of Alexander - for a place in the quarter-finals next after Germany's world No 50 defeated Malek Jaziri from Tunisia, 6-1 4-6 6-3 6-0.
Querrey took the game to Murray in the opening set, coming to the net with his deep forehands troubling the Scot.
But Murray scrambled well in defence and got the vital service break in the ninth game with a deft lob over the tall American before serving it out in 42 minutes.
Murray was warming to the task by displaying a level of craft and precision the American was simply unable to match and quickly got a double break to rip through the second set in 29 minutes to take control.
Both players traded breaks in the third set before Murray made two marvellous chase-downs on successive points to break Querrey's serve and then advance on his second match point in the next game.
There was a degree of surprise that Murray, the top seed and world No 1, was placed out on Hisense Arena, Melbourne Park's third premier show court, but he appeared unconcerned.
"It was packed from the first ball and we love that as players," Murray said. "It makes for a great atmosphere. I really enjoyed being back here again on Hisense."
The straight-sets victory for Murray helped him equal his coach Ivan Lendl's record of 48 wins at the Australian Open.
He will play in the fourth-round in Melbourne for a ninth straight year and his 24th in succession at a Grand Slam.
Check our game-by-game updates from Andy Murray's matches as he aims to win his maiden Australian Open title by following our blog on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad or our Twitter account @skysportstennis.
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