Andy Murray vs. Ivo Karlovic: Score and Reaction from 2016 French Open

After struggling through the first two rounds of the 2016 French Open, second-seeded Andy Murray made a statement Friday with a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (3) victory over No. 27 Ivo Karlovic in the third round at Roland Garros.

Murray needed five sets to dispatch Radek Stepanek and Mathias Bourgue in the first and second rounds, respectively, but he made quick work of the 6'11" Karlovic in one hour and 56 minutes.

While Murray entered the match having never lost to Karlovic, the Croatian veteran has challenged him often over the years, according to Live Tennis:

"

It's a 6-0 H2H in #Murray's favour. But #Karlovic has taken him beyond straight sets in four of these encounters. pic.twitter.com/5OmBkHx4zg

— Live Tennis (@livetennis) May 27, 2016"

Although Murray has been inconsistent lately, he looked like a different player early in Friday's match, as he aggressively went after Karlovic and imposed his will in the opening set.

That was apparent during Karlovic's first service game, as the Scot broke him by virtue of a risky shot, per BBC's David Law:

Murray broke each of Karlovic's first two service games and cruised to a 6-1 set win in just 25 minutes. According to ESPN Tennis, the 37-year-old was nearly unstoppable on serve prior to Friday's match:

"

Karlovic, who was broken twice total in first two matches, drops first two service games as Murray claims the opening set 6-1. #RG16

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) May 27, 2016"

Karlovic tightened his serve up in the second set and made things closer, but Murray still managed to earn a break en route to taking the set 6-4 and moving within one set of the fourth round.

Per Roland Garros' official Twitter account, Karlovic had never experienced a worse start through two sets in his lengthy career than he did Friday:

Murray's quickness, use of angles and superb shot-making made life difficult for the big man, which is something Murray has grown accustomed to doing against tall players as of late, according to Jeff Sackmann of TennisAbstract.com:

"

Against 'tall' players (6'4" or 193+), Murray has won 23 of his last 24 matches--only loss vs Anderson at last year's USO.

— Jeff Sackmann (@tennisabstract) May 27, 2016"

While the first two sets were easy for the two-time Grand Slam champion, the third was largely a stalemate as they traded holds of serve.

As pointed out by BBC's Russell Fuller, Karlovic finally started to harness his greatest weapon and push Murray for the first time in the match:

That resulted in a third-set tiebreak and an opportunity for Karlovic to completely shift the momentum of the match.

However, Murray stifled Karlovic's serve and held steady on his own to take the tiebreak 7-3 in relatively routine fashion and win the match in the process.

Fatigue was a concern regarding Murray entering the match after surviving marathons in the previous two rounds, but the fact that he was able to end it in straight sets was huge in terms of setting the stage for a deep run.

Murray didn't have to overexert himself in comparison to his first two matches, so he should be in good position physically for his fourth-round encounter with No. 15 John Isner.

The former Olympic gold medalist may be the slight favorite to reach the final from his half of the draw, but potentially tricky matchups with players like former U.S. Open finalist Kei Nishikori and reigning French Open champion Stan Wawrinka await further down the line.

The French Open is the one Grand Slam at which Murray has never reached the final, but this year is arguably his best opportunity with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal out of the tournament and Novak Djokovic in the other half of the draw.

Murray won't make it to that point if his form from the first two rounds creeps back in, but assuming he continues to play like he did against Karlovic Friday, he has a legitimate chance to vie for his first title at Roland Garros.

Post-Match Reaction

Murray showed major improvements in the third round compared to his performances in the first and second rounds, and he explained the reasoning behind his strong play after the match, according to Kate Battersby of RolandGarros.com:

"

I was off to a quick start and against someone like Ivo, that's important. The quicker you can get it done the better. It gives me a chance to recover from the first few days, which is good. He fought right to the end. I was very glad to win the tiebreak and get off. The return is normally the strongest part of my game, but even so against him it's not always up to you. When he serves well, you can't do much. I tried to stay patient and take care of my own service games. Didn't give him any break point opportunities. Very few unforced errors. So a lot of positives—and if you're getting good looks on returns against Ivo, then there is a good chance moving forward that I will be getting good looks on other players' serves.

"

If Murray indeed turned the corner against Karlovic, then he has to be considered the co-favorite in his part of the draw along with Wawrinka. If his early inconsistency resurfaces at any point, though, the Brit could find himself on the outs at Roland Garros once again.

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