New York, U.S.A. by ATP Staff

Second seed and Andy Murray, last year’s US Open runner-up, survived a second set blip to beat Paul Capdeville 6-2, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 on Friday for a place in the third round. The pair, who used to practise together at the Emilio Sanchez – Sergio Casal Academy in Barcelona, was contesting their first meeting.

World No. 87 Capdeville capitalised on Murray’s lapse in concentration to clinch the second set in 37 minutes, courtesy of one forehand winner and two aces. It was one-way traffic thereafter, for 22-year-old Murray, in the third and fourth sets that lasted just 49 minutes. The Scot struck 44 winners, including 15 aces, for his 55th win of the year (55-8) in two hours and six minutes.

“I played three very good sets and one poor one,” said Muray. “But you’re allowed to play a bad set sometimes. I came back well from it. I just felt a little bit lethargic, a little bit low on energy. I don’t know why. But [I] managed to pick it up at the end when I needed to.”

Murray, a winner of five ATP World Tour titles this year, finished in second place in the Olympus US Open Series for the second straight year. If he were to win the title he would collect an additional $500,000 in prize money. Three weeks ago Murray won the Rogers Cup at Montreal, the 11th hard-court title of his career.

Capdeville, 26, was meeting a Top 10 player for the sixth time in his career (1-5). His lone Top 10 win came on Davis Cup duty for Chile against World No. 8 James Blake of the United States in the 2006 World Group quarter-finals.

Murray, who is now two wins shy of 150 hard-court wins (148-43), will next challenge either big-serving American Taylor Dent or Ivan Navarro of Spain. The pair play later on Friday.