Murray gets up to speed to seal comfortable win

(AP)

Andy Murray continued his good form in America by beating Sam Querrey 7-6, 6-1 to reach the third round of the Cincinnati Masters last night. The British No 1 will have high hopes for the tournament after reaching the semi-finals in Toronto last week, where he lost to Rafael Nadal.

He began sluggishly, going a break down against his fellow 21-year-old before clawing his way back and then racing through the second set.

Murray was troubled by a long-standing knee injury against Nadal and needed a scan before competing in Cincinnati. But ultimately it was his movement and retrieving that frustrated Querrey.

Murray was broken to love in only the second game. The Scot managed to open his account in the fourth game, and three games later he got the break back as the erratic side of his opponent's game came out.

Errors were free-flowing from both men in a low-quality start, but Murray managed to level things up at 4-4. Another wild groundstroke gave the eighth seed an immediate mini-break and he never looked likely to let the advantage slip.

The Scot had the bit between his teeth now and, although he handed his opponent a lifeline with a poor service game in the final set, Murray re-established his advantage in the next game and he easily served out for a comfortable victory.

Murray will now face a rematch against Richard Gasquet, whom he beat in an epic Wimbledon fourth-round tie earlier this summer, if the Frenchman can defeat his next opponent Dmitry Tursunov.

Murray put his poor start down to the difference in conditions between Cincinnati and Toronto. "I didn't feel that comfortable on the court," he said. "It's so fast here compared with last week. The balls are flying around and you feel like you can't really swing at the ball as hard as you could last week.

"I've played a lot of matches at night – in my last few matches the balls have been dead and here they're flying through the air so quick and I was struggling to control the ball, so I was getting a bit frustrated.

"But once I calmed down and played a few more games I started to serve better and, obviously, won comfortably in the second set.

"Against someone like Sam, who is very inconsistent, you need to try to play solidly yourself."