ATP Antwerp: Murray again against Tiafoe - but with better chances?
Andy Murray won his last individual tournament so far in Antwerp in 2019. The way to a new championship could be rocky.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Oct 18, 2021, 02:32 pm
In the week before the US Open 2021, Andy Murray and Frances Tiafoe met at the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Winston Salem. The result - Tiafoe won 7: 6 (5) and 6: 3 - does not reflect the frustration Murray put on record after the match. At best, he was at the level around 50 to 60, according to the Scot at the time, and if his second serve left him, not even that.
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A few days later, Andy Murray pushed Stefanos Tsitsipas into the fifth set at the US Open, which no longer looked to be outside the top 50. And last week in Indian Wells, the two-time Olympic gold medalist annoyed his successor Alexander Zverev . After Murray had previously defeated Adrian Mannarino quite comfortably and Carlos Alcaraz after a tactical masterpiece.
Wildcard for Murray in Vienna
All of this can certainly be rated positively for the fans of Andy Murray (as well as the fact that Sir Andrew of all people is the only one of the Big Four who currently has the desire for or the physical requirements for tennis), the current world rankings show him but only at position 172. Murray is therefore dependent on wild cards, the organizers in Antwerp have certainly given them just as happily as tournament director Herwig Straka for the coming week in Vienna.
In Antwerp it is now against Frances Tiafoe again, basically not a glamorous draw. The fact that Diego Schwartzman is the number two of the traditional event in Belgium is waiting for Andy Murray. On the other hand, the veteran brings glorious memories with him to Antwerp: In 2019 he was able to win his last individual title here, the only one after his hip operation. For the defense of this championship, Murray seems to be slowly getting back in shape after the frustration of Winston Salem.
Here the single tableau in Antwerp