US Open: Andy Murray beats Thomaz Bellucci to make last 16

Murray won 80% of points when landing with his first
serve
US Open
Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York; Dates: 31
August-13 September
Coverage: Live radio and text commentary on
every Andy Murray match plus selected others.
Britain's Andy Murray made swift progress
into
the US Open fourth round as he swept past
Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci in straight sets.
Murray had needed five sets to win his previous
round but saw off 30th seed Bellucci 6-3 6-2 7-5 in
the New York night session.
The third seed goes on to face South African 14th
seed Kevin Anderson in the last 16 on Monday.
Murray leads the head-to-head 5-1 and won when
they met at Queen's in June.
Murray relishes cooler conditions
If there were any question marks hanging over
Murray after his gruelling comeback against Adrian
Mannarino on Thursday, the Scot answered them
comprehensively.
Aggression pays off for Murray
Murray went to the net 29 times, 11 more than
against Mannarino.
He hit six aces to go eighth in the US Open charts
on 45 overall.
Murray missed just 15 of 91 service returns against
Bellucci.
He hit 14 forehand winners, after a total of 15
across his first two matches.
He took two hours and 11 minutes - 66 minutes
shorter than against Mannarino - as he denied the
night crowd another thriller.
"It was very important today," Murray said of his
three-set win.
"My last match was extremely tough physically and
mentally. It was a lot cooler today, which helps, and
to get the win in three sets.
"I get a day to recover now and get ready for the
next one."
Pressure too much for Bellucci
The early signs were not great, with Murray furious
after dropping his opening service game, but he hit
back immediately for 2-2 and was never behind
again.
Two double faults hurt Bellucci in that service game,
and Murray pushed hard in a 22-point game at 3-2
only to see four break points slip by.
The 2012 champion made the breakthrough two
games later and reeled off five straight games after
another Bellucci double fault gave up the break early
in set two.
Murray broke again on his way to a two-set lead but
had to remain patient in the third as Bellucci held
firm, but the Scot converted his third chance at 5-5
and served out.
"It was much slower conditions today, a bit easier to
return and tougher to serve, so because of that there
were a lot of long rallies," Murray added.
"He plays well with confidence and when he's ahead.
When he got that break early I was a bit worried.
"He was striking the ball well, thankfully I managed
to get the break straight back."
Anderson next for Murray
The 6ft 8in South African said it felt "fantastic" after
he beat Austria's Dominic Thiem to reach the fourth
round for the first time.
Anderson, 29, is a man on an upward curve at his
career-high ranking of 14 and targeting a place at the
end-of-season ATP Finals for the top eight players.
He is top of the aces charts at Flushing Meadows after
three matches with 69, and has dropped serve just
once.
"I'm feeling really good out there," said Anderson.
"I'm just trying to keep things simple."