Murray edges through Dubai opener

Britain's Andy Murray reached round two of the Dubai Championships with victory over Sergiy Stakhovsky, but looked to be struggling with an ankle injury.

Murray took control after an uneven start, recovering from a set and a break down to lead 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 5-3 when his opponent called it quits.

Both men struggled with ankle injuries - Murray missed Marseille last week because of the problem.

The Scot will face Arnaud Clement or Rainer Schuettler in the second round.

Murray is the second seed in Dubai behind Novak Djokovic, following the withdrawal through injuries of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

606: DEBATE This guy should have finished the match. Just two points to go, but he wanted to go off retired, rather than beaten ProfCapelo

Having beaten Stakhovsky in both their previous meetings on the ATP Tour, as well as in the 2004 US Open junior final, Murray was a strong favourite for their first-round clash.

A swift victory looked on the cards when the Scot led 3-1 and 15-40 but he failed to convert, despite Stakhovsky needing his ankle taped by the trainer, and found himself in a tie-break unnecessarily.

An annoying lapse became slightly more serious when Stakhovsky took it, thanks in part to a fabulous half-volley and a Murray double fault, and the Ukrainian got an early break in the second set.

Finally, Murray gathered himself and found some first serves to reel off four games in a row and serve out the set.

By now it was Murray who was grimacing in pain because of an ankle injury, but he did not call for the trainer and managed to break to love at the start of the decider.

It proved to be enough for the world number four, and he noticeably protected his ankle from any unnecessary stress as he concentrated on winning his service games.

Murray did a good job of consolidating his lead but was denied the satisfaction of sealing the win when Stakhovsky, rather strangely, felt he could not continue when just two points from defeat.
BBC