The Sport Matrix: Tuesday 28 August 2012

Murray digs deep to beat Bogomolov in the first round

Andy Murray struggled for form at Flushing Meadows but eventually defeated Alex Bogomolov Jr 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 to reach the second round of the US Open yesterday.

Murray, playing his first Grand Slam since winning Olympic gold at Wimbledon, endured a poor start, losing his first two service games, but broke back twice before taking the first set. Murray claimed the second set after crucially breaking Bogomolov's serve in the eighth and tenth games. The 29-year-old Russian has had a disappointing season, dropping from 34th in the world at the start of the year to 73rd, but he was playing aggressively and broke the Scot four times in total. The world No 4, though, had less trouble in the third set. He said afterwards: "I did well when I needed to." MORE

Martinez set for Bayern not City

Manchester City target Javi Martinez appears likely to join Bayern Munich, who are willing to pay the full £32m buyout clause of his Athletic Bilbao contract. Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said: "We are working creatively and intelligently to settle this." MORE

Tottenham hope to replace Modric

Tottenham are in a hurry to replace Luka Modric, who has joined Real Madrid for £30m on a five-year deal. Manager Andre Villas-Boas's first choice is Porto's Joao Moutinho. Rennes' Yann M'Vila and Shakhtar Donetsk's Willian have also been linked with the club. MORE

Rooney injury may hinder Berbatov

Manchester United will assess the extent of Wayne Rooney's injury before letting Dimitar Berbatov leave for Fiorentina, who believe a £5m offer will be accepted. But should Rooney's injury keep him out for longer than four weeks, it may hinder the deal. MORE

Stosur through but Watson goes out

Australia's Sam Stosur began the defence of her US Open title yesterday by defeating Croatia's Petra Martic 6-1, 6-1 at Flushing Meadows. Britain's Heather Watson, meanwhile, was beaten 6-2, 6-3 by Li Na, the 2011 French Open champion who is ranked eighth in the world. MORE

Morgan toes party line over KP saga

Eoin Morgan played a straight bat when asked about Kevin Pietersen ahead of today's second ODI against South Africa. "Any team would want him, but there are issues surrounding him and it will take time to resolve," Morgan said. MORE

Ansbro suffers broken neck

London Irish centre Joe Ansbro could be out until Christmas after breaking a bone in his neck during a pre-season game against Munster at the weekend. The 26-year-old is still in the care of specialists at University Hospital in Cork. MORE

Colsaerts 'had it in him' to make team

Nicolas Colsaerts said he overcame a "midlife crisis at 25" after he was given a wild card along with Ian Poulter to play for Europe in the Ryder Cup. The Belgian, who lost his European playing rights in 2007, added: "I knew I had it in me." MORE

Wenger backs his new strike force

Arsène Wenger has defended his new strike force after Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Gervinho all failed to score in Arsenal's 0-0 draw at Stoke. He said: "We want to play well as a team and, if you play well as a team, you score goals." MORE

ICC to develop new 'throwing' detector

Bowlers with illegal actions will face swift justice in the future after the ICC yesterday announced plans to develop a device to be worn by suspects which will assess the legitimacy of an action in real time. MORE

Opinion: James Lawton

Now it is beyond debate that Wayne Rooney's demeanour has given Sir Alex Ferguson an increasingly jaundiced view of the attitude of a player who came close to defecting two years ago. MORE