Andy Murray Beats Jarkko Nieminen In Second Round Olympics Match

Murray Beats Nieminen In Second Round

Andy Murray eased into the third round of the London 2012 Olympics tennis event with a straight sets win over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen.

The Wimbledon finalist barely broke sweat as he entertained a relaxed Centre Court with a variety of composed strokes during his 6-2 6-4 win as his competitor lagged on the other side of the net.

He will now face Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, whom he defeated at Wimbledon in the third round.

All England Club traditionalists may not have welcomed Plan B and The Clash's London Calling blaring around tennis' most hallowed arena, but Murray has expressed in the past how he prefers such vibrancy at tennis tournaments, and all the colours of the rainbow were represented on the Wimbledon lawn.

The Scot said prior to this year's SW19 slam that winning an Olympic gold would mean more to him than becoming the first Briton to win at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936. His tears after the four-set final defeat to Roger Federer may have exposed that as a ruse, and some have since mused whether returning to the scene of that devastation in the same month may have caused a mental relapse.

He didn't display a hint of it against Stanislas Wawrinka on Sunday and nor did he against Nieminen. Murray broke the Finn in the very first game and then raced into a 4-1 lead after a second break.

Centre Court was pockmarked with empty seats for Britain's number one, continuing the trend that even the figureheads of the Team GB brand cannot lure backsides onto every seat. "Mount Murray" didn't warrant a mention during the BBC's coverage, but the Dunblane man towered over the world number 43.

Nieminen would only win one more game as Murray took the opening set 6-2, buzzing off the leisurely atmosphere which is a rarity for him even in the early rounds at the Wimbledon Championships.

Again he succeeded in breaking his opponent in the opening game of the second set as Nieminen, at 31, looked as creaky as his age suggested he would be against the 25-year-old Team GB member.

It was a more spirited effort from the Scandinavian, who laughed at his own expense when he hurtled into the crowd in the match's final game, but Murray served out with an ace to the delight of his Union Jack-wielding followers.

Knocked out at the first round in Beijing in 2008, the third seed had not reached the first of his four Grand Slam finals then. A marked maturity has abetted Murray since then as he seeks an Olympic medal to compensate for his Wimbledon heartache.

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