Andy Murray makes it two wins in three days as he beats Gian Marco Moroni in Challenger Tour event

Andy Murray makes it two wins in three days as he beats Gian Marco Moroni in Challenger Tour event in Italy after being forced to miss Australian Open due to positive coronavirus test

  • Andy Murray beat world No 234 Gian Marco Moroni at a Challenger Tour event
  • He beat German Maximilian Marterer in the Italian city of Biella on Tuesday 
  • The Scot beat Moroni 6-4 6-4 despite converting just three of 12 break points 
  • The Scot will now face world No 159 Blaz Rola from Slovenia in the quarter-finals

Andy Murray continued his return to action with a second victory in just three days after sweeping aside world No 234 Gian Marco Moroni.

The 33-year-old Scot is competing at an ATP Challenger Tour event in the northern Italian city of Biella after a positive coronavirus test ruled him out of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

And having come from behind to beat German world No 203 Maximilian Marterer 6-7 6-2 6-3 on Tuesday, Murray managed to secure 6-4 6-4 victory over Italian Moroni.

Andy Murray won his second match in three days after beating  Gian Marco Moroni

He will now meet world No 159 Blaz Rola in Friday’s quarter-finals, and will be looking to improve in some areas after managing to take advantage of just three of the 12 break points he created.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray appeared to be cruising after a double-break opened up a 5-2 lead on the Palapajetta Court. 

But the Italian fought back by winning the following two games to make the Scot more nervous.

However, Murray stayed calm under pressure and managed to serve the set out at the second time of asking in just under an hour.

Murray beat German world No 203 Maximilian Marterer 6-7 6-2 6-3 on Tuesday too

Murray beat German world No 203 Maximilian Marterer 6-7 6-2 6-3 on Tuesday too

Murray made a strong start to the second set too but Moroni continued to save break points and remained very much in the showdown. 

The Scot then managed to waste an eight break point on the Italian’s next serve but he did finally seize the opportunity in the ninth game before serving out the match in just under two hours.

Friday’s opponent Rola has met Murray once before, but could only win two games in their clash at Wimbledon in 2014.

But the 30-year-old Slovenian is ranked just 14 places below Murray ahead of their latest contest, when the latter will be looking to secure his third official victory since mid-October at an event offering £38,000 in prize money.

He will now meet world No 159 Blaz Rola from Slovenia in Friday's quarter-finals

He will now meet world No 159 Blaz Rola from Slovenia in Friday’s quarter-finals