Andy Murray ended six-year wait with brilliant Stefanos Tsitsipas win at Stuttgart Open
ANDY MURRAY emphatically defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Stuttgart Open on Friday afternoon.
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Andy Murray ended a six-year wait to defeat a top seed at an ATP Tour event after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Stuttgart Open. Murray rolled back the years with a remarkable performance on the German grass by defeating the world No. 5 in straight-sets.
The 7-6, 6-3 win was his third successive straight-sets win out in the Stuttgart sun, having already defeated Alexander Bublik and Christopher O'Connell prior to his win over the Greek star. Despite this, arguably the most impressive record comes with Murray toppling the top seed.
The win was the Scottish star’s first against a top-five player since beating Novak Djokovic at the 2016 Nitto ATP Finals. Speaking after the match, a beaming Murray commented: “I thought I did well. He served unbelievably well in the first set and I had very few chances when I was returning.But when he was creating opportunities on my serve I stayed strong.
“I played a really solid tiebreak and in the second set, I served well while he dropped a little bit. Once I was in the rallies I felt like I was dictating a lot of the points so it was a good performance."
The victory continues his all-important preparation ahead of this year’s Wimbledon which gets underway at the end of this month. Speaking about his strengths competing on grass, Murray added: “I don't want to say I was the smarter player, but maybe this surface suits my style.
“Stefanos plays well on all surfaces but this works really nicely for my game and I'm able to use my strengths better." The win means he now moves on to the semi-final of the Stuttgart event, where he will face Australian star Nick Kyrgios after he saw off Márton Fucsovics with the Hungarian forced to retire.
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After his victory the Aussie star said: “It was an amazing atmosphere. Almost full crowd. Beautiful weather today, really nice conditions to play tennis. I thought I did well. He served unbelievably in the first set.
"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 the points. It was a good performance." The pair will meet tomorrow for a place in the final against either Oscar Otte or Matteo Berrettini.