MURRAY MOVES AHEAD IN MELBOURNE
Andy Murray didn’t have it all his own way during his third-round victory over Joao Sousa, but the No.2 seed cleaned up his game midway through the match to secure a 6-2 3-6 6-2 6-2 victory on Saturday.
The four-time Australian Open finalist extended his record against Sousa to 7-0 but dropped just his second set against the Portuguese, and his first on a hard court. After a near-faultless display against Sam Groth in the second round, Murray was forced to scrap and adjust to book his spot in the last 16, where he will face either Bernard Tomic or John Millman.
“I thought I struggled,” Murray admitted. “At the beginning I think he was extremely aggressive, very intense. You know, so he was getting into position to dictate a lot of points with his forehand.
“Once I started to hit the ball a little bit cleaner towards the end of the match I was able to get him in his backhand corner and dictate more of the points.”
