US Open 2021: Tsitsipas pulls his head out of the noose against Murray
Stefanos Tsitsipas just avoided a surprise end in round one of the US Open 2021. The Greek defeated old master Andy Murray 2: 6, 7: 6 (7), 3: 6, 6: 3 and 6: 4.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Aug 31, 2021, 01:49 am
By Jens Huiber from New York City
Early in the New York evening, the organizers of the US Open came up with a kind of apology: The long lines of spectators that had formed in front of the entrances to the National Tennis Center were very unpleasant. The USTA will endeavor to get the problem under control. The bottleneck was probably the stations where the fans had to hand in their backpacks. The good news: matches at Arthur Ashe Stadium don't start until 12 p.m. local time. And if you were rightly looking forward to the big game of the day between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andy Murray, the marathon match between Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys gave you a few more minutes.
In fact, from the start of the game between the 2011 champion and the current world number three, the hut was as well filled as if it were a quarter-finals in the second week. With a clear distribution of sympathies - in the direction of Murray. He moaned, moaned, quarreled like in his prime. And kept up playfully as well as in such. From the point of view of Tsitsipas, the first set was gone quickly, in the second the favorite saved himself in a tiebreak. That with a bit of luck he would decide for himself. The audience noted benevolently that the two players treated each other with a tie (the fact that Tsitsipas disappeared back into the catacombs after the fourth set was not well received by either Murray or the fans).
Tsitsipas too strong for Murray in the end
After his second round in Winston Salem, Murray was somewhere between 60 and 70 in terms of playing strength. And identified his second serve as a weakness. There was nothing to be seen of that in the four hours and 49 minutes that he was ultimately to spend with Tstsipas in the largest tennis stadium in the world. But the wheel of time can only be turned back to a certain extent. Even if not only the fans had seen Andy Murray win.
An early break in the decisive set was enough for Stefanos Tsitsipas to fix the entry into round two. Murray gave everything, but it wasn't enough. As expected, the farewell by the fans looked much euphoric. The later admission to the stadium was compensated for by an extra-long day session. And Sir Andrew will probably not give so many legendary performances in New York City.
Here is the single tableau at the US Open
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