Rusty Murray needs to turn up heat in defence

'Sluggish': Andy Murray needs to raise his game
14 April 2012

If victory in San Jose this week will do nothing for Andy Murray in numerical terms, the ability to handle the curious pressure that comes with defending a title would be a priceless asset to reveal.

The Scot is far away from that. With last month's Australian Open finalist and former World No 1 Andy Roddick a potential opponent in Saturday's semi-finals for the second year in succession, he knows he will have to improve on his second-round struggle past Denmark's Kristian Pless.

Murray looked unsure of himself and the bounce of the ball on a surface which is quickr than that on which he won his maiden ATP title 12 months ago.

Still easing his way back into the routine of playing matches after concentrating on physical work further up the California coast at the home of coach Brad Gilbert, he has yet to find his timing in the SAP Open.

As in all sports, the knack of winning while putting in below-par performances is what separates champions from the rest.

In the end, Murray reached the last eight with a 6-0, 6-7, 6-4 win that owed as much to persistence as form. At times, the 19-year-old was made to toil by world No 83 Pless, a promising junior like Murray, but one who has failed to turn potential into wins on the men's tour.

Now 26, Pless has developed into a spoiler at best in tournaments, a role he attempted to play on Wednesday night until he was finally ground down.

Murray said: "I have a day's rest to prepare for my next opponent. That will give me more time to practise on the new court. I have to keep the ball down. I played on the same surface in Bangkok. It was pretty quick.

"To be fair to Pless, he started off great in the second set and it's tough to get back into the set when you're behind on these very fast courts.

"My serve kept me in the match today. I didn't return as well as I normally do and my groundstrokes weren't as solid.

"I was happy with the way I played considering I'd only played about 55 minutes of tennis in the past three weeks.

"I felt a little sluggish, but I wasn't playing badly. I was able to get through and I started to come at the net a little bit. I felt like I had to try some different things."

Murray was left to ponder his progress while he waited to discover the identity of his quarter-final opponent. With Gilbert by his side, however, any downtime is immediately filled with advice and chatter from the chirpy American.

Gilbert leaves nothing to chance, so sifting through the mountain of advice he is being offered is another skill that Murray is having to develop.

It is that full-on nature of their relationship which will be one of the most fascinating aspects to observe now that the initial voyage of dicovery has turned into familiarity.

Murray added: "During the match, Brad just takes notice of what I do. We work on tactics that he thinks will work against my future opponents. I feel like I'm getting better when we work on different things."

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