Murray's easy passage
01/23/2012 02:48:02 AM
Fourth seed Andy Murray has been handed an easy passage into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open after opponent Mikhail Kukushkin retired after just 49 minutes in their fourth round clash on Monday.
Murray had ripped through the first two sets and conceded just two games but when he broke the Kukushkin serve in the opening game of the third to take a 6-1 6-1 1-0 lead, the world No.92 called it quits.
The reason for his retirement was officially a left hip flexor injury, but fatigue surely would have been an issue with Kukushkin coming off consecutive five-set epics.
Murray broke to love in the opening game before breaking again in the third game. He gave one back the very next game, but it mattered little as he reeled off the next three to close out the set.
The second set followed a similar pattern with Murray again racing to an early lead before dropping his serve in the third game.
But that would be the Kazakh's final game for the match as Murray breezed through the remainder of the set with the encounter looking more like a training drill than a clash in the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament.
When Kukushkin dropped his serve in the opening game of the third set, he decided he'd endured enough pain and called an early end to the match.
Murray will now play either sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or 24th seed Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.