Andy Murray in action against Stefanos Tsitsipas (AP)
Andy Murray showed impressive resolve and some glimpses of his best tennis as he beat No1 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets at the Stuttgart Open. Murray had to fight hard during a first set in which the Greek served immaculately, but the Scot forced a tie-break and then earned the only mini-break of another impressive serving trade-off.
The loss of the first set seemed to knock Tsitsipas off his stride and his first serve percentage fell away in the second, as Murray earned the first break of the match with some sublime touch around the net to lead 5-2. Tsitsipas saved two match points on his own serve but couldn’t repeat the trick in the next game as Murray closed it out with a powerful forehand down the line.
The Scot is enjoying some important grass-court preparation ahead of Wimbledon, earning his first win over a top-five ranked player since 2016, and now faces a semi-final against either Marton Fucsovics or Nick Kyrgios.
Harriet Dart hits target in Nottingham to reach first WTA quarter-final
The latest from Nottingham, where yesterday Britain’s Harriet Dart saved three match points to reach her first WTA quarter-final with a dramatic tie-break victory over Italian third seed Camila Giorgi at the Rothesay Open.
On another rain-affected day, Dart returned to court tied at one set all with the world number 26 having clawed level before play was suspended on Wednesday.
With a tense decider remaining on serve, the 25-year-old was on the brink of exiting the competition at 40-0 down in the 10th game but she dug in to eventually progress 5-7 6-4 7-6 (3) and claim a personal milestone.
Her reward for a gruelling victory, which took two hours and 34 minutes over the two days, is a last-eight meeting with sixth-seeded American Alison Riske, who overcame 2019 champion Caroline Garcia 6-4 7-5.
“I can’t quite believe it, saving those three match points,” Dart told the LTA.
“I really have to thank the crowd because they got me through that. This is my first quarter-final, so for it to be at a home tournament is special.”
Matteo Berrettini has seen out the second set against Lorenzo Sonego and they are into the third and final set – and Berrettini has made the early break.
This, admittedly, is five days’ old but who’s counting...
Andy Murray suffered his eighth Grand Slam final defeat as Novak Djokovic finally took the French Open title and with it his place in the highest pantheon of tennis on this day in 2016.
The world No 1 became the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four trophies at the same time after a 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-4 victory in his fourth final at Roland Garros.
To achieve something even Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal fell short of in the same era is truly remarkable and, after winning his 12th Slam title, Djokovic moved within five of Federer’s all-time record.
For Murray, it was an all-too familiar feeling as high hopes gave way to helplessness in the face of Djokovic’s brilliance, with five of his final defeats coming against the man he first faced as an 11-year-old.
The Scot, the first British man in 79 years to reach the final in Paris, fought for all he was worth in the fourth set but ultimately he had no answer.
The Scot has headed to Germany for his first ATP Tour event of the season on grass and could face top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas next after seeing off Kazakh Bublik 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Murray had to work hard in the second set after dropping serve twice in succession, but saved two set points at 2-5 and another two games later before winning five of the last six points in the tie-break.
It was a third meeting between the three-time grand slam champion and 42nd-ranked Bublik this season, with Murray taking a 2-1 advantage.
Bublik is known as one of the more flamboyant players on tour, and Murray said in his on-court interview: “He’s predictable in his unpredictability. You’re prepared for some amazing shots and then maybe some loose games.
“Today he played some amazing stuff for five or six games in the second set and everything was coming off. I was getting a bit frustrated but I kept fighting, held a tough game at 5-2 and then I thought I played well through to the finish.”
Andy Murray began his campaign at the Stuttgart Open with victory over Australia’s Christopher O’Connell.
The two-time Wimbledon champion lost in the semi-finals of the second-tier Challenger event in Surbiton last week and headed to Germany to continue his grass-court season.
He lost the first three games to qualifier O’Connell but recovered strongly to claim a 6-4, 6-3 victory and reach the second round.
Murray could have faced a quick rematch with Denis Kudla, the player he lost to in Surbiton, but the American fell in straight sets to seventh seed Alexander Bublik, 7-6 (3), 7-5.
Currently on court is the No2 seed Matteo Berrettini, who is losing 5-3 to Lorenzo Sonego in the first set of their quarter-final. They are on the other side of the draw to Murray and Tsitsipas – should Murray win he could face Nick Krygios in the semi-finals.
Nick Kyrgios during his second-round match against Nikoloz Basilashvili (Getty Images)
Murray and Tsitsipas have history. They have only played once but it was a fiery match in last year’s US Open. Murray led by two sets to one before the Greek roared back to win in five.
However, tensions grew when Tsitsipas took eight minutes for a bathroom break before the start of the fifth set, and then immediately broke a furious Murray. He went on to close out a 2-6, 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in just less than five hours.
Murray, who could be heard shouting “it’s cheating” towards his box during the final set, condemned the long break as “nonsense” and said he had lost respect for his opponent.
“It’s not so much leaving the court. It’s the amount of time,” Murray said. “It’s nonsense and he knows it. That’s annoying for me because it sounds like sour grapes because you’ve lost a match. I would have said the same thing if I’d won, I promise.
“It’s just disappointing because I feel it influenced the outcome of the match. I’m not saying I necessarily win that match, for sure, but it had influence on what was happening after those breaks.”
But Tsitsipas denied bending the rules. “If there’s something that he has to tell me, we should speak, the two of us, to kind of understand what went wrong. I don’t think I broke any rules. I played by the guidelines, how everything is. I don’t know how my opponent feels when I’m out there playing the match. It’s not really my priority.
“As far as I’m playing by the rules and sticking to what the ATP says is fair, then the rest is fine. I have nothing against him. Absolutely nothing.”
But in the Greek 23-year-old Tstitsipas, the current world No4, Murray faces a whole different challenge. Tsitsipas is the top seed in Stuttgart, although he required a third-set tie-break to get past Switzerland’s Dominic Stricker in the previous round.
Murray went a break up in the second, Bublik recovered from an erratic start to lead 5-2 and forced Murray to save set points, with two consecutive aces sealing the hold after a lengthy service game. From there, Murray immediately broke Bublik and forced the tiebreak, where he played some of his best tennis of the second set to edge the World No44 7-5 in the decider. “I felt I played well towards the finish,” Murray said afterwards. “I feel good, I moved well on the court and hopefully I can play better tennis towards the weekend.”
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