Andy Murray won one of his biggest wins since hip surgery in 2019, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach the semifinals of the Boss Open.
Murray, who currently ranks 68th in the world, defeated the Greek first-teamer 7-6 (4) 6-3 in one hour and 40 minutes and will play against Nick Kyrgios in the last four in Stuttgart.
This is the first time Murray has beaten a top five player in the world since 2016. The 35-year-old Scot saved a set point at 6-6 in the opening before confirming it in a tie-break and testing Tsitsipas to move 4 -2 forward in the second on his way to an impressive victory in his third matchball.
Tsitsipas, number 5 in the world, saved a breakthrough point in the seventh game, as the first set went with a serve and failed to realize one of his own at 6-6 when Murray imposed a tie-break. The Scot, who defeated seventh-seeded Alexander Bublik to reach the final eight of his first event of the ATP Tour of the grass season, then made a mini-break to move 5-3 up and serve to seal 7 -4 in a little less than an hour.
Tsitsipas saved two match points in his pass at 5-2 in the second set, but then Murray served for the match. Murray’s only previous encounter with Tsitsipas was in the first round of the US Open last year, when he led by two sets to one, only to lose in five.
Murray said in an interview on the court: “It was an amazing atmosphere. Almost a full crowd. Great weather today, really good conditions for playing tennis. I thought I did well. He served amazingly in the first set.
“I felt I had very few chances, but when he created chances with my serve, I stayed strong. I played a really solid tie-break and in the second set, after being in the rally, I had the feeling that I was dictating a lot of points. It was a good performance. “
Darts’ run in Nottingham ended with Riske
Harriet Darth’s attempt to reach her first semifinal of the WTA Tour ended in defeat by Alison Riske at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham. The British №3 took the first set, but her American returned the blow to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in two hours and 26 minutes.
Harriet Darth won the first set against Alison Riske, but was denied by the American. Photo: Will Palmer / SWpix.com / Shutterstock
Darth was broken in the sixth game of the starting set to 4-2, but responded with two breakthroughs to take the first set in just over an hour. The sixth set hit back in the second set, breaking Darth three times on her way to 6-2.
Darth held the serve to take a 1-0 lead in the decisive, but then dropped out, interrupted three more times, while Riske fought in the next six games to reach the sixth semifinal of his career on grass. She will then face Ayla Tomlyanovic or Victoria Golubic.
Top-ranked Maria Sakari lost to seventh-placed Beatrice Hadad Maya 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. The Brazilian will face Czech Theresa Martintsova in the semifinals after beating fourth-placed China Zhang Shuai 6-3 in a row.
In the men’s ATP Challenger, Liam Brody missed his chance to reach the final four after losing in three sets to Jack Sock 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-4. Ryan Penniston of Essex, the British No. 7, ended in a 6-3, 6-4 defeat by Australian Alexei Popirin in Friday’s first quarterfinal.
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