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ATP Stuttgart: Andy Murray is on - and his wife Kim is probably happy

Andy Murray (ATP No. 68) reached the quarter-finals at the Boss Open at Stuttgart's Weissenhof - but in the end had to pool all his strength against Alexander Bublik. In the end it was 6:3 7:6 (4) for the Scot, who could now meet Stefanos Tsitsipas.

by Florian Goosman from Stuttgart
last edit: Jun 09, 2022, 04:29 pm

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Andy Murray
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Andy Murray

Andy Murray actually ran the place. With 6: 3 he had won the first round quite relaxed, in the second set he had just managed the break to 2: 1 - and then the Stuttgart spectators still experienced the whole program. /

Murray, as usual talking to himself the entire time, slacked off and became dissatisfied, while Bublik turned it up. The man from Russia had more train in the loft anyway, but now the many stops were in order; Murray, on the other hand, made fewer and increasingly wrong decisions. "If I had confirmed the break, it might have been different," Murray mused after the end of the match. "But then the match quickly turned." Because Bublik managed another break straight away.

"Can I have the ball, please?"

For Murray, little generally went together during this time. A supposedly long ball from Bublik thought the Hawk-Eye was on the line, and when the referee Carlos Bernardes asked, he replied that the green light on his display had come on. Yeah, sure, Murray said, but did he see the ball on the line too?

A backhand pass hit the net edge as well, Murray asked the ball girl for the ball (to hit it properly again), but despite a series of increasingly friendly inquiries ("Ball please", "The Ball, please?", "Can I get the ball, please?") was not heard, to the amusement of the audience.

Murray, however, despite his grumbling after his own wrong decisions, was indulgent, "He's doing all the right things", he passed on several indirect praises to Bublik, and of course that was true.

Murray is looking for the right mix

The conditions also played into it. "That was tricky. It was windy, but not consistently. In addition, the course is quite fast. Under these conditions you don't feel at the best level. And then the opponent who plays this style. It's difficult to find the right mix to find: from your own aggressive game - or to give the opponent the opportunity to make mistakes."

At 5: 3, Murray's mix was right again. Because Bublik decided to overstrain the hitherto successful stop, at 0:15 he chased Murray several times over the entire course, but he just kept running like good old Forrest Gump and dug everything up. It was five stops within four points in the end, but Murray made all of them, who managed the rebreak. And who even said a positive "Come on!" in the tie-break at the end. heaved across the pitch and finished the match in a highly concentrated manner.

Murray in Germany: "My wife is happy when I'm gone"

He knew what to expect against Bublik, Murray explained afterwards. "He's predictable in his unpredictability," he said. And those who would often scold Bublik for his gimmicks should also see that this would have put him in a good position - like against him in the second round.

Murray's first ever appearance on German grass (so far he had only played the Wimbledon preliminary tournaments in Great Britain) continues, in the quarter-finals against the top seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas or Dominic Stricker. He didn't want to see too negatively that he was traveling alone this week, without his wife and four children. Yes, of course he misses his family. But: "I think my wife is happy when I'm gone. I don't even know if she would be okay with her if I hang around the house too often," he explained - and thus caused the big laugh of the day Weissenhof.

by Florian Goosman from Stuttgart

Thursday
Jun 09, 2022, 04:28 pm
last edit: Jun 09, 2022, 04:29 pm