Murray Ousted At Madrid Masters; Alcaraz, Rublev v Wawrinka Fri.

Two-time champion Andy Murray suffered his first-ever loss in the opening round at the Madrid Masters, falling to Italian Andrea Vavassori 6-2, 7-6(9-7).

The 27-year-old Vavassori started out strong with a quick break and big lead and then held break edge in the second. Murray, though, as he has done often this year, would get back to level and force a breaker.

Vavassori would pull ahead again but Murray saved three match points as the underdog began to tighten up. Murray, however, would miss one sitter volley an then another down his fourth match point. It was his first opening round loss in Madrid in 13 tries.

“It is a dream come true,” the 164th-ranked Vavassori said. “To play at a tournament like this, in a court like this against a true champion like him. I have followed his whole career. He is a hero for everybody on the Tour. I think until the second half of the second set, I played the best tennis of my life. Then the nerves came in, but at the end, just joy.”

Former finalist Dominic Thiem had a good win to start the day on the stadium eliminating Kyle Edmund 6-4, 6-1.

“It was not easy in the beginning. First match on the center court and I was mainly practicing outside, so it is a different feeling,” Thiem said to the ATP. “I have known Kyle since we were juniors. He has been a tough opponent since the young days, so I went in with a lot of respect. I had some crucial moments in the first set when I saved the break points and then I released a little bit and it got better and better.”

Other winners on the final day of the first round were Bernabe Zapata Miralles who fought off Mackenzie McDonald 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7-4). Russia’s Alexander Shevchenko got by 24-year-old American J.J. Wolf 6-4, 6-4.

Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Roman Safiullin, Cristian Garin, Aslan Karatsev and Zhizhen Zhang also advanced.

The second round opens play tomorrow with seeds on the court.

No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz meets Emil Ruusuvuori in his title defense opener. Ruusuvuori came out ahead in their only previous meeting in the 2021 Miami Masters first round.

No. 3 Casper Ruud takes on Matteo Arnaldi in a first-time tour-level collision.

No. 5 Andrey Rublev will meet Stan Wawrinka. No. 6 Holger Rune locks up with Alexander Bublik. No. 12 Hubert Hurkacz clashes with Richard Gasquet and former two-time champion No. 13 Alexander Zverev will meet Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena.

FRIDAY MADRID MASTERS SCHEDULE
MANOLO SANTANA STADIUM
Starting At: 11:00 am
WTA Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Daria Kasatkina [8]
Not Before 1:00 pm
ATP Stan WAWRINKA (SUI) vs Andrey RUBLEV [5]
Not Before 4:00 pm
ATP Carlos ALCARAZ (ESP) [1] vs Emil RUUSUVUORI (FIN)
Not Before 8:00 PM
WTA Iga Swiatek (POL) [1] vs [LL] Julia Grabher (AUT)
ATP Roberto CARBALLES BAENA (ESP) vs Alexander ZVEREV (GER) [13]

ARANTXA SANCHEZ STADIUM
Starting At: 11:00 am
ATP Casper RUUD (NOR) [3] vs [Q] Matteo ARNALDI (ITA)
Not Before 1:00 PM
WTA Anna Kalinskaya vs Elena Rybakina (KAZ) [7]
WTA Alycia Parks (USA) vs Victoria Azarenka [15]
WTA Jessica Pegula (USA) [3] vs [Q] Magdalena Frech (POL)
ATP Alexander BUBLIK (KAZ) vs Holger RUNE (DEN) [6]