By Chris Oddo | Saturday, March 14, 2015

 

Andy Murray won easily against Vasek Pospisil but still doesn't feel quite comfortable with the hot conditions at Indian Wells.

Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty

Indian Well, Calif—It was a nice, easy cruise for Andy Murray in his first match at the BNP Paribas Open, but the 27-year-old world No. 4 admitted that he had to struggle for control in conditions that he’s always found a bit difficult.

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Murray’s 6-3, 6-1 victory over the Canadian sets up a third-round encounter with German Philipp Kohlschreiber. It could provide to be a difficult test for Murray, who has split two previous matches with the world No. 26, including a five-set, two-day encounter at Roland Garros last year that Murray won 12-10 in the fifth set.

“It was a good start,” said Murray. “He didn't serve particularly well. But even still, returning second serves, it was not easy. The ball was bouncing extremely high... even from the back of the court balls were getting up really, really high.”

Murray improved his career record to 21-9 at Indian Wells, but the 2009 runner-up has not been past the quarterfinals here since that year. He lost in the round of 16 to Milos Raonic in three sets in 2014.

“I think it's tough because it's not, it's not that easy to control the ball here,” said Murray. “I mean, no matter how many days you spend here, that's always going to be the case. Because the balls are lively, and when it's warm like this—I think it's like in the mid 90s—you know, it's tricky.”

Still, Murray came away pleased with the win and the fact that he dominated Pospisil, a player who had the luxury of experiencing the conditions during his first-round win over Mikhail Kukushkin.

"I thought I did a good job," he said. "I controlled the ball well today. But it's not easy, so it's something that every match you need to be right on it and not take your timing or anything for granted. You need to respect the conditions and make sure you're very sharp."

One player that doesn’t seem to struggle with the conditions whatsoever is Novak Djokovic. The three-time champion blasted past Marcos Baghdatis, 6-1, 6-3, for his 8th consecutive victory against the Cypriot.

“No complaints,” said the owner of 49 ATP titles. “Everything was working well from the beginning to the end.”

Djokovic needed just under an hour to seal his victory and book a spot in the third round where he’ll face Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

In the men’s singles match of the day, David Ferrer outlasted Ivan Dodig in an Epic battle on Stadium 3, rallying back from 5-3 in the third-set tiebreaker to defeat the Croatian, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(6).

Thanasi Kokkinakis, who defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in a three-set battle, became the youngest player left in the draw when Borna Coric fell to Bernard Tomic, 6-3, 6-4.

Ernests Gulbis, was also a winner, picking up his first match of 2015 wth a straight-sets victory over Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

On the doubles court, Roger Federer and his partner Michael Lammer fell in a match tiebreak to Nenad Zimonjic and Marcin Matkowski, 6-3, 3-6, 11-9.