Australian Open 2011: Andy Murray defeats García-López in straight sets
Andy Murray sleeps well. Not even Ayr United putting his beloved Hibernian out of the Scottish Cup this week has distracted the Scot in his assault on the Australian Open.He did groan when told there was an Ayr fan cheering him on during his third-round 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 cakewalk against the disappointingly uncompetitive Guillermo García-López today. But just about everything else is going right for the fifth seed at what might now be his favourite tournament, despite his lachrymose exit in the final last year.
And he has no nightmares from that experience, either, he insists. "No flashbacks," he said of the 2010 presentation ceremony, when he let the tears flow when standing next to his conqueror, Roger Federer.
Murray has good reason to like Melbourne. He has won 24 matches here, 14 in straight sets, three of those in this first week.
Murray once regarded the US Open as the tournament that would most likely provide him with his first slam; now he's not so sure.
"I like the surface here better than the US Open," he said. "It's slower and I prefer that. It's very similar to the courts I practise on in Miami."
That Spartan work clearly has paid dividends again. He waved goodbye in Miami to his part-time trainer, Alex Corretja, who returned to Barcelona, but he has not missed him. Murray has hit on a formula that works, relying on his long-time friend Dani Vallverdu for understated guidance, and his tennis-smart mother, Judy, for the odd text of encouragement.
"I've spoken to Alex a couple of times since I've been here," Murray said. "Dani and him speak the night before and after my matches to discuss tactics, how I have been playing. Alex watches the matches on TV back home.
"I've been working with Alex for three years and he has never come to Australia. If I felt like I really needed him here he would come but we did all the training in December. That is where the work is done, so I didn't feel it was essential."
After two awkward three-setters against wild-swinging players he had never met, Karol Beck and the unpredictable Illya Marchenko, Murray looked decidedly more comfortable against López, whose low-key game allowed him to dictate pretty much the entire match.
López hit a between-the-legs flick down the line to grab the third point of the game – and it was downhill from there on for the world No32. There was not a jot of evidence in the 82 minutes it lasted that he deserved such a ranking.
It did not demean Murray's win, as he played within himself and still produced the sort of court wizardry that encourages the belief he has plenty left.
With Rafa Nadal almost certainly his opponent in the semi-finals, he will need it.
Murray had played López just the once – a straight-sets win at Queens two years ago – but had practised with him many times – and the Spaniard gave the impression for much of their match here that this was just another country club hit-up.
At least three times he refused to chase down what might have been 40-60 chances on return, and he hit the net more than a North Sea cod. When the ball wasn't falling short for him, it went wide or long or both, and there was hardly a rally worth the name.
Murray, however, produced another solid, unfussy game, hitting more fluently than against Marchenko and ratcheting up his aggression only when needed.
He raced through the first set as if López wasn't there – which wasn't far off the truth. After he'd pulled off his one trick shot when retrieving a devilish lob, he went to pieces and, when Murray went over the top of his head again, López banged it wide to give up serve.
And so it went, mistake after mistake – until he broke back in the fourth game, when his serve finally clicked. Murray quickly woke up and moved through the set in 24 minutes without further inconvenience.
López looked beyond help in the second, as Murray piled on the aces and blistering passing shots on either wing.
López galvanized himself for a minor struggle in the third, holding his serve to love twice before collapsing again. A running forehand by Murray to break López in the fifth game was the shot of the match.
It was not Murray's fault the match was so dull; indeed, he professed later he appreciated the lightness of the workout.
"I didn't use up much energy at all," he said. "There weren't many long rallies. It was hot today, so it was nice to get off the court."
He might have been speaking for many of the fans in a near-full Rod Laver Arena, a few of whom booed López at the end. Even the Spanish media ignored the match, preferring to chase up quotes from an early doubles dust-up involving their pairing of Feliciano López and Juan Mónaco, who were aggravated to screaming point by the best wind-up merchant in tennis, Leander Paes, of India.
There was no such tension on the main court. Indeed, there was none at all. Murray now lines up against the stiffer opposition of Jürgen Melzer, who progressed courtesy of a retirement by Marcos Baghdatis. After the jog comes the sprint to the finish. Murray looks in good shape for the race.
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