Murray enters fourth round of US open

Britain’s Andy Murray’s hopes of winning his first major title were on course as he earned a hard-fought win over Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 7-6(5), 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4) to enter the fourth round of the US Open. The world number four will play in the fourth round Canada’s Milos Raonic who dismissed American wild card James Blake 6-3, 6-0, 7-6(3). Murray was riding a wave of momentum coming into Flushing Meadows, where he was runner-up in his first major final in 2008 (lost to Federer), having reached the Wimbledon final (lost to Federer) and won the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics (beat Federer). However, his resolve was severely tested against the 30th-seeded Lopez, who was out to record his first win in seven meetings with the Scot. “The last few sets were tough,” said the Scotsman. “I just played a little bit better at the end of the tie-breaks, a little bit more solid than him, and that was the difference.” Murray appeared in control of the match after assuming a two-set lead. But the Dunblane native twice squandered a break advantage in the third set, allowing Lopez back into contention and the Madrid native pounced to force a fourth set. In the 68-minute fourth set, Murray teetered before steadying himself in the decisive tie-break to claim the hard-fought win. “I think he served well. He went for big second serves,” said Murray. “I wasn’t getting as much depth on my returns because of that. Conditions can play a part in it as well. It was lively, quick conditions. His serve was bouncing off the court a lot. It can be tough to control the returns Sometimes you just have to find a way to get through. I did that today.” The 25-year-old Murray has been denied in four Grand Slam finals, counting two Australian Open final defeats alongside his disappointments in New York and Wimbledon. Number 15 Raonic fired 29 aces and won 89 per cent of his first serve points. He broke Blake five times to clinch his second victory over the 32 year old, having also won their encounter in San Jose last year en route to lifting his first ATP World Tour trophy. Raonic equalled his best Grand Slam showing, following a fourth-round run at the 2011 Australian Open (lost to Ferrer) as a qualifier. Coming into Flushing Meadows, the 21-year-old advanced to back-to-back quarter-finals at the ATP World Tour Masters events in Toronto and Cincinnati.