Andy Murray is safely through to the second round of the US Open after comfortably beating Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets.
The British star had to come through a turbulent hour-long first set, where there were five breaks of serve, as he took it 7-5. Amid that set came a true show of sportsmanship from Cerundolo, who voluntarily conceded a point after a replay on the big screen showed he'd been wrongfully awarded one.
From there though Murray was dominant, taking the next set 6-3. And he maintained his grip on the contest in the third, winning it 6-3 to cement an impressive showing at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Murray came into clash having admitted he'd been plagued by cramp problems in practice, and indeed, his movement was anything but fluent in a scruffy opening game. The Scot wasted a game point before a later unforced error handed the Argentinian an immediate break.
The 2012 champion responded by breaking twice in succession though as he began to control the tempo of the contest. However, at 5-3, Murray wasted a chance to take the first set as a string of unforced errors allowed Cerundolo to break back.
Then came a heartwarming moment, as Cerundolo was awarded a point after seemingly reaching Murray's drop shot, only to then opt to concede it back when a replay on the big screen showed the ball had indeed bounced twice. The 24-year-old still took the game though, but then at 6-5 down double faulted as Murray finally took the set.
Suddenly, the momentum was clearly back with the three-time Slam champion, and a stinging return brought about another break as he sped into a 3-0 lead early in the second set. And as the belief seemed to drain from the 24th seed, he lost serve again before Murray hammered down a sixth ace to go up 5-0.
The Buenos Aires man did get on the board before a sloppy service game from Murray, followed by another consolidation from Cerundolo, made it 5-3. But at the second time of asking, the former world No 1 produced another big serve to give himself two set points.
A clinical forehand sealed matters, leaving Cerundolo - yet to win a match at a Grand Slam tournament- with a mountain to climb. And the summit became steeper again when Murray again broke in the opening game of the third set.
At 3-1 up and at deuce on Cerundolo's serve, Murray sensed blood, and another cure drop shot yielded another break point. He couldn't take that one, but then came a second chance and his opponent's forehand sailed long to all but end the contest.
And in the next game, an overhead smash winner from Murray, followed by a fortuitous net chord deflection, made it 5-1. To his credit, Cerundolo did rally to bring matters back to 5-3 as his more esteemed rival again failed to close out the set, but then another break of serve finished the contest in just over two-and-a-half-hours.
"That felt like five sets," Murray said afterwards. "It was very tricky conditions, hot and humid. But I was very happy with the way I got through that one, it wasn't easy." On the support he received: "It's amazing. Usually at the 11am [US time] matches it gets a bit quiet but the crowd was brilliant right to the end."
