Andy Murray meets challenge of Marcel Granollers and noisy New York crowd

Murray’s match was put under the $150m roof in Arthur Ashe Stadium, but a combination of echoing chatter and torrential rain outside still made conditions a challenge.

The British No 1, however, wavered only momentarily as he beat Granollers 6-4 6-1 6-4 to book his place in round three. He will face either France’s Gilles Simon or Italian Paolo Lorenzi.

This was not a vintage Murray performance. He made 28 unforced errors and his first serve only landed 43 per cent of the time, but another straight-sets win will preserve energy for sterner tests to come.

There was also the challenge of playing under the roof, which amplified an already noisy New York crowd and for a while caused a clattering din as the rain poured down.

“At first we didn’t know if there was just more people coming in at the change of ends, but then we quickly realised it was the rain,” said Murray.

“It was tough, you couldn’t really hear the ball, which makes it tricky. But we’re lucky to play under the roof otherwise there wouldn’t be any tennis so it’s good for everyone.”

Murray had won his last four meetings against Granollers and only lost twice in nine, but the emphatic score-line was harsh on the world No 45, who was particularly threatening at the end of the first set.

Two games, lasting 23 minutes, had Murray scrambling, but the Scot survived and never looked back thereafter.

Britain’s Johanna Konta says she pushed herself to the limit after overcoming an on-court collapse at the US Open on Wednesday. Konta beat Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2 5-7 6-2 to reach the third round, but only after enduring a sudden bout of illness on Court 13 that left her lying in a heap on the baseline.

The British No 1 was a set point down in the second set when she dropped to the floor, red in the face and struggling to breathe, with almost 15 minutes passing before play resumed.

The match began just before 2pm local time at Flushing Meadows and it is likely the heat, reaching 30 degrees Celsius, contributed to Konta’s discomfort.

“I think all athletes kind of play a very fine line with that. We push our bodies to the limits that they can go,” Konta said.

“I definitely hit one of my limits. That was the way my body reacted.

“I was feeling, a little bit, the conditions and also my own energy levels. I was just managing the best that I could with what I had.

“Basically my heart rate spiked and I couldn’t really control my breathing. I started hyperventilating. I started shaking. So yeah, basically that’s why I went down on the ground, because I was quite violently shaking.”

The world No 14 will take on Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic today.