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Murray v Delbonis – Indian Wells R3 Preview

Ros Satar
Tennis

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By Ros Satar – In Indian Wells

  • Andy Murray v Federico Delbonis – First Meeting
  • Murray defending semi-final points from last year

INDIAN WELLS, USA – Andy Murray continues his campaign in the Palm Springs desert when he faces Federico Delbonis in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Britwatch Tennis:

In the tricky conditions at the start of the spring hard-court swing, Murray had a little test at the hands of unconventional Marcel Granollers, who had some strong moves in the gusty conditions in Murray’s opener.

He explained, after the match: “I haven’t necessarily played my best here over the years, but I think because the conditions are extremely lively and the balls here are so, so fast, maybe the quality of tennis isn’t as high as it is in other places when it’s a bit slower.

“I think when the conditions are calm, you know, I think the quality of tennis is high. But when it gets windy here it can be difficult to play really well, I think. It does make it challenging.”

Add to that playing a player perhaps one would assume would be more at home on the clay, but in truth the Argentine lists both clay and outdoor hard courts as his favourite surfaces.

Indeed after falling in the third round of the Australian Open to Gilles Simon in straight sets, Delbonis headed to Latin America to the ‘Golden’ clay court swing, reaching the quarter-finals of both Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo before picking up a couple of solid rounds here in Indian Wells. In fact this represents his best ever performance in Palm Springs

Murray put in some time on the doubles court with Colin Fleming to get his feet dirty here in the desert, and seems to have shifted past struggles here where he went twice on the bounce, out in the opener.

This should be a straight forward win for Murray, and we predict another two set win, but expect he could have a battle on his hands.

Murray and Delbonis are scheduled on Stadium 1, not before 1pm (8pm GMT).