AFTER more than 10 years on Tour, Andy Murray has seen almost everything there is to see on a tennis court but when he plays Slovak Martin Klizan in the second round here today, he will be on the lookout for one thing in particular.
In his first-round win over the French wildcard, Laurent Lokoli, Klizan was accused of faking injury, tanking sets and lacking respect, with Lokoli refusing to shake his hand at the end.
Murray beat the left-hander on their only previous match, in Vienna last year, when he romped through the final set 6-0.
If Klizan does play up when they meet today, it might remind the world No.1 of the time when Novak Djokovic looked injured and exhausted in their Australian Open final of 2015, only for the Serb to bounce back and win the title.
“It can be tough [when a player looks like they are not trying] but I think I’ve played well over 800 matches on the Tour so I’ve seen pretty much everything,” said Murray, who looked far happier in his first-round match than he had in the rest of the clay-court season.
“There wouldn’t be too much that would surprise me or shock me when I’m out there now. If he’s tanking sets against me, I’m happy with that.”
“He’s an unorthodox player. He’ll go through patches in the match where he’s playing some unbelievable stuff and then he drops off a little bit and plays some strange shots which may appear like he’s not interested but that’s how he plays the game. That’s what’s been successful for him.”
“Obviously tanking sets is not good for the fans or anyone watching. For his opponent, it’s a positive thing because he’s basically handing a set over. I saw in some of the videos he had his calf pretty heavily strapped…but he obviously did OK to last – they played something like three hours and 45 minutes so it’s obviously not too bad.”
Murray told the BBC he had seen the video footage of Lokoli refusing to shake Klizan’s hand but said he expected things to be a bit smoother today.
“I'm pretty sure that in every match I've played professionally, there's always been a handshake at the end of it,” he said.
Murray said the cough, a remnant of the virus that affected him coming into Roland Garros, was nothing to be concerned about and the way he finished against Andrey Kuznetsov in round one means he will go into the match with growing confidence.
The same can be said for the defending champion, Djokovic, who looks better with each match of this clay-court season.
The Serb, who lost his No 1 ranking to Murray at the end of 2016, crushed Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 with the minimum of fuss.
The only moment of concern came when he appeared to jar his back when slipping late in the third set, but Djokovic said it was nothing to worry about and with Andre Agassi in his corner, he is pleased with his progression.
“In some important moments I was kind of hanging in there, especially in the third set - he missed an easy forehand maybe to go break up in the third,” Djokovic said.
“It was quite close, especially in the third set. The way I ended the match and last couple of games was positive. The way I started, as well. Generally, I felt better than the first round, so that's exactly what I wanted.
Nadal, who is going for an incredible 10th title here, but first since 2014, was even more impressive as he demolished Dutchman Robin Haase 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.
“I was more or less under control during the whole match, so I am very happy,” Nadal said.
“Winning in straight sets is always great news and Robin is a dangerous opponent always. He can serve very well. Hit very strong. I think I did a lot of things well this afternoon.”
France’s hopes of a first home men’s champion since Yannick Noah in 1983 always looked slim but victory for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Lyon last weekend caused some people to suggest he might have a big run here.
But having clawed his way back against Renzo Olivo on Tuesday night, when he won the third set and recovered to 4-5 in the fourth, he promptly dropped serve to go out in round one, his earliest loss in a slam since 2005.
Olivo’s reward is a clash against Britain’s Kyle Edmund, a match which will be played today.
Grigor Dimitrov, the No 11 seed, looked impressive as he beat the veteran Spaniard, Tommy Robredo, in straight sets, while 10th seed David Goffin, enjoying the best form of his career, cruised past Sergiy Stakhovskiy of Ukraine.
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