Murray Edges Edmund In Washington; Del Potro Opens Win Win in Los Cabos; Thiem Tumbles On Clay
- 26 Comments
Andy Murray had to fight again to advance in Washington. This time in a tight 3-set win over countryman Kyle Edmund 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-4.
Edmund served for the first set but couldn’t finish it. He brushed off the disappointment and seized hold of the second. Late in the third, Murray was teetering serving 4-all, but held and then with the help of an Edmund double fault, closed out his compatriot.
Murray credited his aggressive behavior for the win.
“It was much better, just in terms of the way I actually played the match. In the first match I basically spent the whole match defending, I was playing quite far behind the baseline. And that’s not really how I want to be playing moving forward,” Murray said.
“Spoke at good length with my coach about that. Today, regardless of the result, we wanted to at least be dictating more points, trying to use my forehand, be closer to the baseline. I think I did that, especially in some of the important moments in the third set… I was being more offensive. I was a lot happier with the way I approached the match today.”
Edmund will rue those missed chances in the first and the third.
“I gave my best of what I had on the day today. Just didn’t work out. Would have been nice to hold serve and maybe even control what I can and take to a tie-break but it didn’t happen,” Edmund said.
Murray returns tonight for a third round match against Marius Copil.
Before another night of rains halted play, Alexander Zverev completed his win over Malek Jaziri. He’ll face his brother, Mischa, today.
And a slew of young stars were winners including Stefanos Tsitsipas, Hyeon Chung, Denis Shapovaolov and Frances Tiafoe. Kei Nishikori also eliminated Donald Young
Nick Kyrgios, though, had to withdraw with a hip injury.
Today will also see John Isner finally make his debut against Noah Rubin with the winner returning for a second match later in the day.
Shapovlov battles Nishikori and Tiafoe tests Goffin.
In Los Cabos, Juan Martin del Potro opened play there with a 7-5, 6-3 win over American qualifier Marcos Giron.
“It was a tough match for sure. I didn’t expect to play this difficult of match against a 400 player but he did really good. We played a great first set but then in the end, I took my chances to close the match in two sets, and I’m glad for that,” del Potro said.
Next for del Potro is Egor Gerasimov who shocked defending champion Sam Querrey 7-5, 5-7, 7-6(6).
And in the final clay event on the calendar in Kitzbuhel, Dominic Thiem was bounced by qualifier Martin Klizan 1-6, 6-1, 7-5.
“The first set was really bad, but then I played better,” said Thiem. “Sets two and three were okay, [but] it’s very bitter for me. The atmosphere was great in the stadium today, there were some good rallies. It could have been a great start into the tournament, but losing it in the end is very disappointing.”
Post-French Open, Thiem is just 3-4.
The tournament has already lost its top 4 seeds after Philipp Kohlschreiber, Robin Haase and Fernando Verdasco all fell on Wednesday.
You Might Like:
Young Ousts Wawrinka In Washington; Murray v Edmund Today; Delpo Opens Play In Los Cabos
Del Potro Rolls Into Beijing SFs, Will Face Fognini In Los Cabos Rematch
Fognini Upsets Del Potro for 3rd 2018 Title at ATP Los Cabos
Zverev Bests Nishikori Against In Rainy Washington, Murray WDs; Del Potro v Fognini In Los Cabos Final
Crying Andy Murray Wins At 3am In Washington, Isner Out; Del Potro Rolls In Los Cabos