Basel, Switzerland (The Hawk): At the ATP 500 match, Murray won after two hours and 37 minutes of hard-fought competition by rallying from a set and a break down in the third.
He was hitting the ball hard from the back of the court whenever he had the chance and was serving extremely well. I started to dictate a few more points as the game progressed and improved my serving," Murray said.
I slightly altered how I was returning, and as a result, I was able to generate a few more opportunities and slightly irritate him.
For significant portions of the match, the big-hitting qualifier pushed the Scot from side to side. He persevered, though, and reduced his mistakes in the crucial situations to secure his 26th tour-level victory of the year. Since he recorded 78 victories in 2016, Murray has had more victories in a season than any other player.
Next up for Murray, who is playing in Basel for the first time since 2005, is either Serbian qualifier Laslo Djere or sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut. In his last five matches, the World No. 49 has played for a total of 11 hours and 23 minutes, with four of those matches requiring a deciding set.
Sebastian Baez was defeated earlier by Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2, 6-1 in just 61 minutes. The Spaniard defeated American Maxime Cressy or #NextGenATP Swiss Dominic Stricker in the second round after making just seven unforced errors and hitting 20 winners.
In two hours and 31 minutes, Alex Molcan defeated Mackenzie McDonald 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 to advance as well. The Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech will be the Slovakian's next opponent.
(Inputs from Agencies)