Murray downs Dimitrov, Monfils advances in Bangkok

Andy Murray played some excellent tennis to get a straight-set victory over the up-and-coming Grigor Dimitrov.

Andy Murray (1) def. Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-4

This match was not as comfortable for Andy Murray as the scoreline suggests. Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov played well throughout both sets. It was world No. 4 Murray, however, who poured on pressure at the tail-end of each set.

The Scot was able to take advantage of a slight lapse from Dimitrov at 4-4, after the Bulgarian had hung with him for the first eight games of the set. Dimitrov double-faulted to give Murray triple break point. Aggressive play from Dimitrov erased one, but Murray got the break anyway and served out the set without incident.

The second set played out almost identically to the first. Dimitrov kept pace with Murray, but returning at 4-4, Murray stood on the Bulgarian and got the second crucial break of the match. Murray will take on the winner of Gilles Simon and Matthias Bachinger of Germany.

Gael Monfils (2) def. Jarkko Nieminen 7-5, 7-6(4)

Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen managed to keep pace with No. 2 seed Gael Monfils of France for most of the match. Monfils’s serve, which was on form at 82% first serves in and eight aces for the match, made the difference for the Frenchman.

Nieminen had the early lead in the opening set, but he donated a few too many unforced errors to the Monfils cause. The Finn dropped serve three times in the opening set alone, with Monfils squeaking out the lead.

Both men played aggressively in the second set, with no service breaks between them. The Monfils serve once again came to the rescue in the tiebreaker, giving the Frenchman the tight straight-set victory.