Noise inside the stadium a distraction: Murray

But the British second seed managed to shut out the noise while beating Spain’s Marcel Granollers  as rain beat down on the closed roof and the crowd noise reverberated inside. The Wimbledon and Olympic champion ground down the world number 45 in a match involving numerous lung-busting rallies and played under a cacophony of sound with the $150 million roof closed from the start. “It’s because we use our ears when we play,” Murray said, explaining the difficulty. 

“It’s not just the eyes. It helps us pick up the speed of the ball, the spin that’s on the ball, how hard someone’s hitting it. “If we played with our ears covered or with headphones on, it would be a big advantage if your opponent wasn’t wearing them.” At times, the players could barely hear the ball off their strings and the rain hammering on the roof was almost deafening but Murray kept calm to clinch a convincing victory. 

“At first we didn’t know if there was just more people come in at the change of ends, but then we quickly realised it was the rain,” Murray said. But the Scot, chasing his fourth grand slam title, said players will cope with the extra noise. “As an athlete, that’s what you do. We adjust to conditions, different conditions every week,” said Murray. “I’m sure if the feedback is that the TV or the spectators aren’t enjoying the match as much then they will look into it and try and change it. 

“But if it’s fine on TV, which from what I have heard it is, I don’t know what the fans have said about it yet, but the players will adjust.” Murray, the champion in 2012 and chasing a fourth Grand Slam title, will now play either 30th seed Gilles Simon or unseeded Italian Paolo Lorenzi.