Fourth-seeded Andy Murray of UK takes on Frenchman Michael Llodra in his third round match of the Australian Open 2012. The match will be played on Saturday, January 21.
Murray dropped the first set he played at the Australian Open this year in the first round to American Ryan Harrison but since then, his journey has been fairly smooth.
The Brit defeated Harrison 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to set up a second round meeting with 101st ranked Édouard Roger-Vasselin. Murray wasted no time in defeating his French opponent, winning 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 to make it to the third round.
Llodra is a surprise entrant in the third round, after he stunned the 32nd-seeded Alex Bogmolov Jr. of Russia in a tough five-setter. Llodra took a two sets to nothing lead over his opponent, before Bogmolov came back to win the next two sets 6-4, 7-5 and took the match to the fifth set.
The Frenchman won the match in the fifth set, 6-4 to book his third round spot against Murray.
The last time Murray played Llodra was in the 2008 US Open and the Brit needed a fourth set tie-breaker to eke out a win and a place in the third round. Before that he had beaten Llodra at the Metz Open in France in straight sets.
Speaking of Llodra’s play, Murray said, “Yeah, he's very good at playing his way. He's been a great doubles player, been very good at singles for a long time. He's got a lot of experience. He makes it difficult because of the way he plays. You don't see guys playing like that much nowadays,”
Murray also added, “When you do play against them, it normally takes a little while to adjust. It's going to be tough. But I've always enjoyed playing guys that come forward in the past. Hopefully I can play a good match against him.”
The Andy Murray v Michael Llodra Australian Open men’s singles third round match will be played on Saturday, January 21.
