With Johnson serving at 4-5, another precise lob set up three match points and Murray clinched it at the second opportunity when the American sent a forehand long.
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However, the 27-year-old Spaniard gave the mercurial Frenchman a massive scare when he took the first set before going down fighting 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 45 minutes.
Should Murray beat Isner then he will face either Gilles Simon of France or the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych in the last eight, as he bids to win his third title at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena.
Kyrgios was largely in control of the match, eventually winning 6-3, 6-2 to set up a second round encounter with Kei Nishikori and he insisted making an effort to clean up his act.
Things went more smoothly for Kyrgios and doubles partner Bernard Tomic on Tuesday as they beat Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock to reach the second round. “You have to earn the respect from the other players by playing well, being consistent, coming onto the court with confidence”.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has suggested Nick Kyrgios needs to become mentally stronger after the Australian had another temper tantrum during his Shanghai Masters loss to Kei Nishikori.
“I think it’s not so much that the conditions are really tricky here, it’s that they’re quite different to Beijing and Tokyo”.
Nishikori, who entered the contest after a first round bye, looked rusty in the early proceedings as he was broken in his very first service game.
Kyrgios maintained his innocence, saying: ‘I didn’t hit the ball in anger, I just hit it. Obviously it was pretty close to the line umpire. But he can get carried away a little bit because he’s not able to sustain his concentration all the way till the end. This year I started I think at 78 in the world, now I got into the top 20 in the past weeks. I played a lot of tennis there. “But I’m playing well and I’m enjoying myself, so that’s what matters”.
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Murray is scheduled to play the Paris Masters and the World Tour Finals next month before completing his season at the Davis Cup final in Belgium in the last week of November.
