Andy Murray - First big exclamation mark in Beijing
Andy Murray celebrated the first big victory after his hip replacement at the ATP Tour 500 tournament in Beijing. The two-time gold medal winner at the Olympics defeated US Open semi-finalists Matteo Berrettini twice in the tie-break.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Nov 11, 2019, 03:11 pm
With all due respect to Tennys Sandgren: The American was never suspected to be able to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament in singles. Well, also the entrance of Matteo Berrettini in the semi-final round of the US Open 2019 came as a surprise, but the playing facility of the Italian promises significantly higher chances of success than those Sandgrens. The 7: 6 (2), 7: 6 (7) victory of Andy Murray against Berrettini on Tuesday in Beijing may therefore be considered a much louder exclamation point than the success against Sandgren last week in Zhuhai.
Especially since Berrettini was certainly not without ambitions in the match against Murray had gone: finally stands for the 23-year-old Romans the first qualifying for the ATP final in the London O2 Arena in view. In the annual standings Berrettini was before the start of the tournament in Beijing in eighth position.
Duel with Federer unlikely
But something like that does not appeal to Andy Murray. The Scot has started the week as proud number 503 of the ATP charts, whopping 502 places higher than his career best. In Zhuhai Murray has also given the eventual winner Alex de Minaur a big fight, so there are a few signs indicate that the 32-year-old moves again cautiously in the direction of the world advanced. The fact that the old fighting spirit is still there, Murray showed above all in the first set against Berrettini, which he still got despite break-back.
Forty-five titles on the ATP tour have Andy Murray won, and the 46th in Beijing is not out of the question but unlikely. In the second round compatriot Cameron Norrie waits, who profited from the task of Cristian Garin. In the quarterfinals then probably tournament favorite Dominic Thiem, this should prevail against the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang.
Murray desperately needs points, his protected ranking only grants him access to a limited number of tournaments. However, the big highlights will be in late November and early next year: Andy Murray will play for his country selection, first in the Davis Cup in Madrid, then in the ATP Cup in Australia. And there the British were dissolved into a group with the Swiss. Nevertheless, a duel with Roger Federer is unlikely: After all, Murray will not collect enough points this year to be able to operate as the British number one.