US Open: Andy Murray continues relentless form to ease past Lukas Rosol to reach second round

Andy Murray beat Lukas Rosol 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the US Open second round

Andy Murray beat Lukas Rosol to reach the second round of the US Open (Getty)

Whether he has been playing amid the respectful calm of the All England Club, in the patriotic fervour of Rio or the noise and chaos of Flushing Meadows, the outcome has been pretty much the same for Andy Murray in recent weeks.

The Wimbledon and Olympic champion began his quest to round off a sensational summer with his second US Open title in characteristic fashion in the night session here on day two of the year’s concluding Grand Slam tournament. Murray beat the Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in just an hour and 52 minutes with a performance that was every bit as convincing as the scoreline suggested.

Rosol, who has never quite lived up to the promise he showed when blowing Rafael Nadal off the court at Wimbledon four years ago, was competitive for five games, but once Murray converted his third break point to go 4-2 up the result was never in doubt.

Just as he was at Wimbledon and the Olympics, the 29-year-old Scot looked every inch a man in charge of his own destiny. For all his on-court scowling, his running conversations with nobody in particular at the back of the court and his gesturing and shouting in the general direction of his entourage, the world No 2 usually does a wonderful job of staying focused on his task.

Murray needed less than two hours to beat Rosol (Getty)

Some players find that difficult in the unique atmosphere here in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Compared with Centre Court, the 24,000-capacity arena is a cauldron of noise - even during points. With the sound captured more than ever by the new retractable roof – or at least, on this warm and dry evening, by the rigid part of the structure – the match was played to a constant background hum as spectators seemed just as keen on talking as on watching.

“It’s quite different playing out there in that arena now,” Murray said afterwards. “It’s a lot louder than most places that we play, so you don’t hear the ball as much. There's a slightly different sound in there.”

As is so often the case here, spectators regularly walked in and out of the stadium at times other than the change of ends. At one stage a bemused-looking Murray had to delay his serve as a group of spectators changed seats just behind him.

Even at the changeovers it must have been hard to concentrate as the crowd roared whenever the cameras picked out famous faces to show on the big screens. Andre Agassi and Kevin Spacey received huge cheers, but the warmest applause was reserved for David Dinkins, the former mayor of New York, and his wife, Joyce, who were celebrating their 63rd wedding anniversary.

Murray celebrates after defeating Rosol in straight sets (Getty)

Amidst the hubbub, Murray, was on his game from the start. The world No 2, who has reached the final of his last seven tournaments during the best run of his career, served well throughout and did not have to defend a single break point in the match.

Rosol saved three set points from 0-40 down at 3-5 in the opening set, but faded quickly thereafter. Murray, striking the ball consistently well and hurrying Rosol into an increasing number of mistakes, quickly took a 4-0 lead in the second set and went on to win the last four games in the third.

“I served very well,” Murray said. “I used good variation on the second serve. My first and second serve were very good tonight. That’s something that I worked on a lot. It was good through the grass at Wimbledon.”

He added: “It was extremely humid tonight, which makes it a little bit easier to control the ball. The court is obviously cooler [than in the day], so it’s staying a little bit lower. It’s not bouncing up as high. During the day that’s obviously quite different. The ball’s bouncing up a lot more, tends to be a little bit harder to control.

Murray shakes hands with Rosol after beating him in the US Open first round (Getty)

“Now, because of the roof, there’s literally no wind at all. It almost has a feel of playing indoors because there’s no wind. The playing conditions are perfect.”

With Dan Evans beating Rajeev Ram earlier in the day following Kyle Edmund’s victory over Richard Gasquet on Monday, Britain have three men through to the second round, plus Johanna Konta and Naomi Broady in the women’s competition. It is the first time Britain has had five players in the second round here since Jo Durie, Anne Hobbs, Sara Gomer, Annabel Croft and Andrew Castle all cleared the first hurdle in 1987

Murray next plays Marcel Granollers, the world No 45, who beat Juan Monaco 7-6, 7-6, 6-4. Murray has won his last four matches against the 30-year-old Spaniard without dropping a set.

Aljaz Bedene was unable to join his British compatriots in the second round as Nick Kyrgios turned on the style. The Australian won 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 despite being handed a code violation by the umpire in the very first game after hitting a ball away in frustration that nearly hit a line judge. Kyrgios also needed treatment on a sore hip which had forced him to curtail a practice session earlier in the day.

Ivo Karlovic set a US Open record when he hit 61 aces in a 4-6, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 victory over Yen-Hsun Lu, of Taiwan. Richard Krajicek previously held the record with 49 aces in a quarter-final in 1999.