Murray made to work hard in Queen’s opener

The British No 1 booked a meeting with Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in the third round at Queen’s Club after beating Malisse 6-3 5-7 6-3.

Murray took the court with his right ankle heavily strapped after suffering tendon damage during his run to the French Open semi-final.

Malisse barely tested Murray in the opening games, as the world No 4 claimed an early break and raced into a 3-0 lead before rain stopped play.

The match resumed with Murray serving at 3-1 and 15-15 but a long forehand and a volley into the net gifted Malisse two break points his sloppy start hardly deserved.

Murray responded with an ace, forced the game to deuce and held his serve when Malisse planted the ball into the net, ending the longest rally of the match so far.

Murray went on to clinch the first set 6-3 and started the second strongly, with a fierce forehand taking him to 0-30 on Malisse’s serve.

But the Belgian recovered to go 2-1 up and began to grow into the contest as the set wore on. He was volleying well and fired down a pair of aces to edge into a 5-4 lead.

Murray worked himself two break points at 5-5 but Malisse saved them both, the first with a powerful forehand winner down the line.

It was a wasted opportunity from Murray and Malisse capitalised, working himself two break points and forcing the match into a deciding set.

But Murray, who had not lost to Malisse in three previous meetings on the senior tour, responded positively after that second-set wobble.

Murray held his own serve with two aces and then clinched a decisive break to go 3-1 up as Malisse sent a forehand long.

Murray had to dig in to save two break points at 3-2 but he did so and then broke Malisse again to seal the victory.

Murray admitted his ankle had caused him some discomfort at times but he put that down to the difficulties in adapting from a clay to a grass-court surface.

“(My ankle) was all right. It was a little bit sore at times, I’ve just got to get used to the new surface,” said Murray, who complained earlier this week at the short turnaround between the French Open and Wimbledon.

“It’s a little bit sore. It’s getting better every day. I’ve just got to keep doing the right things.

“The movement is something that takes a bit of time. I actually moved pretty well (yesterday) considering it was the first match. It’s good to get through.”

Murray was frustrated at failing to take his chance at the end of the second set but he was satisfied at coming through with the victory.

He continued: “It was tricky. The court is playing very, very slow for a grass court, there were quite a lot of rallies.

“I had a little chance at the end of the second set, I didn’t take it and obviously he got back into it and started playing better but I managed to turn it around in the end.”

Murray faces Tipsarevic in the next round after the Serb beat American Michael Russell.

The Scot added: “He’s a very good player. I lost to him here a few years ago. He’s a good grass-court player, a tricky opponent. I have to play better than (yesterday) if I want to win that one.”

French Open champion Rafael Nadal cruised through with a straight-sets victory over Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden.

Nadal felt jaded after his exploits at Roland Garros on Sunday but he was sharp enough to break Ebden in the first game of each set and clinch victory in 75 minutes.

The Australian, ranked 168 in the world and playing only his 11th senior tour match, had a chance to break back at 3-2 in the second set but Nadal saw off the threat and sealed the victory.

“I had a tough Roland Garros this year. I played very long matches so my energy levels are not perfect right now,” said Nadal, the 2008 champion who will face Radek Stepanek in the third round.

“I’m here because I love this tournament, it’s one of the most beautiful in the world but it also works for me to start have feeling on the grass.

“In a perfect world there would be a month-and-a-half between Roland Garros and Wimbledon but I think it is too difficult to make changes.”

Stepanek beat Croatian 16th seed Ivan Ljubicic 0-6 7-5 6-4 while Thomaz Bellucci also needed three sets to defeat Marsel Ilhan. Croatian Marin Cilic also advanced, beating French qualifier Arnaud Clement 6-4 6-4.

Former US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro made the third round with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Igor Kunitsyn. The powerful Argentinian, seeded 12th this week, will face either Gilles Simon or Adrian Mannarino.

David Nalbandian defeated Serbian qualifier Ilija Bozoljac 6-4 6-4 and Kevin Anderson overcame Donald Young 6-2 6-4.