Cameron Hogwood
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Murray finishes the week in 47th place in the world after returning to the top 50 for the first time in four years with his semi-final victory over Nick Kyrgios; the 35-year-old required treatment from his coach twice in the third set
Last update: 12/06/22 17:59
Andy Murray required treatment at his physiotherapist’s track twice in the third and final set, with Wimbledon just 15 days away.
Andy Murray has lost his first turf title since winning Wimbledon in 2016 when he was defeated by Matteo Berrettini in the final of the Stuttgart Open on Sunday.
The former world number one suffered a 4-6, 7-5 and 3-6 defeat to the Italian in what was only his second defeat in 10 finals on grass.
Perhaps the most pressing concern, however, was that Murray required the physiotherapist’s treatment twice in the third set, with Queen’s and Wimbledon on the horizon.
Berrettini was playing his first tournament since March due to an injury to his right hand that kept him out during the clay court season.
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Murray had secured his first victory over one of the top five players in more than five years when he surprised Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals, before defeating Australian Nick Kyrgios to reach his 70th final of his career and the 10 on the lawn.
He finishes the week in 47th place in the world after returning to the top 50 for the first time since May 2018 with the victory over Kyrgios in the semifinals. Victory in the final would have put him in 35th place in the standings.
Murray had a chance to win his first ATP Tour title from 2019 in January, only to suffer a set-set defeat to Aslan Karatsev in the Sydney Tennis Classic final.
“It’s been an amazing week here. I really enjoyed it. I’d like to congratulate Matteo and his team on a great week,” Murray said in his interview on the track.
“He just got back from surgery and it’s never easy. Today he played really well and deserved the victory. Finally, thanks to my team here and my team back home.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t cross the line today, but there’s been a lot of progress over the last few weeks. I’m looking forward to the future, I feel so much better with my game. I hope my body he can hold out for a while so he can keep playing games like this. “
Andy Murray will appear at both Queen’s and Wimbledon in the coming weeks
Berrettini finished with a tight starting set 6-4 after Murray failed to capitalize on four break points while losing 2-1. The Scot rescued three breakpoints to hold on in response, but was unable to regain ground.
The two were step by step for much of the second, both showing signs of frustration at the sight of careless mistakes.
In what seemed like a crucial point of the match, Murray saved three break points while at 4-4 to maintain the lead, just because Berrettini responded with a comfortable serve game.
The pressure returned to the Italian shortly afterwards, however, when Murray blocked another catch with a 6-5 setback, before making the most of the three-point seven to send it to a decisive.
Berrettini’s response was an immediate break to start the third, after which Murray was forced to take an official medical downtime while the physiotherapist looked at his left leg.
Luckily, he was able to continue, but soon found himself ahead of two games while Berrettini took a love to take control.
There was more concern minutes later when Murray required more treatment as he fell 4-2 behind, the 35-year-old got a serve thanks to two missed returns from Berrettini, but struggled to hide the inconvenience during the exchange.
In Murray’s familiar manner, he continued to struggle, but couldn’t stand Berrettini, who converted his second game-ending point.
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