Associated Press
Dubai, Feb 25: Andy Murray made short work of Joao Sousa once again to race into the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships here Wednesday.
The two-time Grand Slam champion had never lost a set against his Portuguese opponent in four previous meetings and needed just 57 minutes to post a 6-0, 6-2 victory. Murray, who reached the final on his last appearance here three years ago, never had to get out of third gear thanks to 38 unforced errors from Sousa.
Sousa’s poor record against the Scot seemed to be on his mind from the start, with his errors proving the crucial factor as Murray raced through the opening set in 21 minutes.
It was hard to tell how well the World No. 3 was playing because his opponent was being so charitable, and a tally of two winners and 19 unforced errors from Sousa in six games told a sorry tale.
Murray sealed the first set with an ace and then broke serve again at the start of the second. Sousa finally got on the board in the ninth game but his resistance was fleeting and another break for Murray made it 5-2 before he served out the victory with the minimum of fuss.In another tie, sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych survived a scare before overcoming Italian Simone Bolelli 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-0. Berdych committed a lot of errors in the first two sets, but upped the ante in the third.
Earlier late Tuesday night World No.1 Novak Djokovic defeated Canada’s Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-4 in the first round.
