After the first victory against a top five rival in five and a half years yesterday, what can Andy Murray offer today against his close friend Nick Kyrgios?
Whatever the outcome of today’s semi-final, you can be sure that Murray will receive a lot of encouragement from this week’s Stuttgart Open at his main Wimbledon goal.
Friday’s victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas was the first time Murray had beaten a fifth-ranked player in the world since 2016, when he defeated Novak Djokovic in the ATP finals.
Currently ranked 68th in the world and armed with a metal hip, the 35-year-old defeated the first Greek seed 7-6 (4) 6-3 in one hour and 40 minutes to prepare for a quarterfinal match with the Australian Kyrgios. .
Murray said in his interview on the back court, “It was an amazing atmosphere. Almost crowded. Good weather today, very good conditions for playing tennis. I thought I did well. It served incredibly well at first. “I felt like I had very few opportunities, but when I was creating opportunities in my service, I stayed strong. I did a very solid tie-break and in the second set, once in the rallies, I felt like I was dictating a lot of points. It was a good performance. “
The result was a sign that Murray is applying his almost unparalleled knowledge to the turf, and he boosted his chances of boosting a Wimbledon standings just over a fortnight before the end.
But first, a meeting with Kyrgios and the possibility of booking the place at the end of Sunday.
World No. 78 Kyrgios skipped the entire clay court season, but is now also connected to the grass swing ahead of Wimbledon.
The fiery Australian and Murray are good friends despite their very different characters, and the Scot has won five of his previous six matches.
Kyrgios said: “I know what to expect, but he’s also a veteran on the pitch and I don’t want to take him lightly. I’ll just go there, I’ll be great, take care of my service and see him. “.