Andy Murray rolled into the third-round of the Paris Masters, downing Croat Borna Coric 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday.
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The 28-year-old British number one, who was playing his first tie of the indoor tournament having received a first round bye, looked sharp as he broke his 18-year-old Croatian opponent’s serve at the first time of asking.
Confident, quick, and solid off both wings, Coric isn’t overwhelmingly powerful but he is fleet of foot and consistent off the ground, and he loves the big stage: A combination that has got him two wins over top-10 players already, ending Nadal’s season when he beat him in Basel last autumn and shocking Murray in Dubai in February, winning a very lopsided 6-1, 6-3 match.
“I hit the ball well and I was able to defend, too, which is a pretty important part of my game”, Murray said.
American John Isner knocked off Great Britain’s Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 7-6(3) to move on.
The Scot has made it clear that, with the end of the season in sight, his priority is to give Britain its first Davis Cup triumph since 1936 with a victory over Belgium on clay in Ghent later in the month.
He led 4-0 after just 10 minutes and had pocketed the first set 6-1 nine minutes later.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Roger Federer begins his challenge against Andreas Seppi – the Italian who the Swiss legend has defeated 12 out of 13 times.
There was no drama this time.
He clinched the first set when Rosol’s wild, two-handed backhand sailed wide, and then earned the victory on his second match point when Rosol’s forehand went wide.
But he has since improved to a No. 6 ranking and reached his 98th final last week. “I really started well this year and had a good result in Australia (…) and winning three titles this year”.
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In earlier second round action Kei Nishikori produced a storming final set to defeat home hope Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (6/8), 6-1.
