STUTTGART (GERMANY), 10 Jun. (DPA/EP) –
British tennis player Andy Murray won his first victory against a tennis player in the top five of the ATP, since 2016, when he surprised Stefanos Tsitsipas (7-6 (4) and 6-3) on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Stuttgart Open.
Murray began his preparations for the grass-court tour with the semi-finals in Surbiton. Earlier this week, the Scotsman defeated seventh-seeded Alexander Bublik to reach the quarterfinals in Stuttgart and this Friday, against all odds, culminated in victory over the world number five.
This victory allows Murray to avenge his controversial five-set loss to the Greek at last year’s US Open. In addition, Murray puts an end to his drought against the ‘top-5’ of the ATP. His previous victory came at the ‘ATP Finals’ six years ago, when he defeated Novak Djokovic.
“I think I did well. He served unbelievably in the first set,” Murray said at court. “I felt like he had very few chances, but when he was creating chances on my serve, I stayed strong,” he said.
“I played a really solid tie-break and in the second set, once I was in the rallies, I felt like I was dictating a lot of points. It was a good performance,” said Murray, who is currently ranked 53rd in the ATP rankings. and tries to return to the ‘top 50’ for the first time since 2018.
His opponent for a place in the final will be Nick Kyrgios, who was 7-6 (3) and 3-0 up when Marton Fucsovics withdrew from their quarterfinal clash. In addition, Matteo Berrettini beat Lorenzo Sonego in three sets, while Oscar Otte beat Benjamin Bonzi by walkover.