Andy Murray vs. Thomaz Bellucci: Score and Reaction from 2015 US Open

Andy Murray was pressed in each of his first two matches at the 2015 U.S. Open, but that trend didn't hold Saturday night under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium.   

In the evening's final match, Murray dispatched 30th-seeded Thomaz Bellucci in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5, to advance to the round of 16. Murray will meet South African Kevin Anderson in the next round. 

After the world's third-ranked player dropped a set in the first round against Nick Kyrgios and surrendered the first two sets to Adrian Mannarino before staging a comeback, Murray played a steady brand of tennis that allowed him to cruise past Bellucci.

U.S. Open Tennis on Twitter offered a glimpse of match point, which was set up by a wicked serve down the middle:

Playing in cooler, less oppressive conditions, Murray didn't appear bothered by the illness that has hampered him throughout the championship's opening week.  

"Hopefully it takes three or four days before it’s out of the system," Murray said of his cold following Thursday's win over Mannarino, per the Guardian's Kevin Mitchell. "That’s one of the things about being an athlete. It’s survival of the fittest. There’s not much you can take." 

And Saturday, he did more than simply survive. 

Murray's serve was steady all night long, as he won 80 percent of his first-serve points, while converting 72 percent of his net approaches. That balance helped distance him from Bellucci, who was slightly more erratic with 29 unforced errors. 

Bellucci pressed Murray throughout the first set with some stellar exhibitions of power, thanks to a blistering forehand, and his resiliency in a 22-point game midway through the stanza proved he wasn't intimidated by Murray's presence on the opposite baseline. 

"He plays well with confidence and when he's ahead," Murray said, according to BBC Sport's Piers Newbery. "When he got that break early I was a bit worried. He was striking the ball well, thankfully I managed to get the break straight back."

Bellucci hadn't dropped a set in his first two matches prior to Saturday night's meeting with Murray, but a late break by the world No. 3 snapped that streak just under an hour into the clash. 

U.S. Open Tennis on Twitter passed along a look at one of the first set's more entertaining rallies: 

The big disparity early came down to receiving points. Murray won 49 percent of his over the course of the first nine games, whereas Bellucci emerged victorious on 39 percent. 

Given Bellucci's hard-court track record, that wasn't a big surprise. Entering the evening, Bellucci owned a pedestrian 8-8 record on hard courts this season. And though he did defeat Murray four years ago in Madrid, that match came on clay, which is Bellucci's surface of choice.

Now Murray's slated to square off against the 15th-seeded Anderson, who advanced to his eighth round of 16 at a major with a straight-sets victory over Dominic Thiem on Saturday afternoon.  

Anderson will be a formidable foe, but the No. 3 seed boosted his confidence and appeared to distance himself from some concerning lethargy by making quick work of Bellucci.

After easing concerns regarding early struggles, Murray appears primed to impose his will throughout the tournament's second week.