When the world of tennis came together in Paris for the second Grand Slam tournament of the season late last month, Andy Murray chose a different path. He is playing at the highest level of professional tennis with a metal right hip, after all, so it is advisable that he preserve his body when he can.
While his opponents were still playing matches, he trained, built his form and got used to the pitch long before most others and during his week in Stuttgart his results reflected his preparation well. But on Sunday afternoon, in his first turf final since 2016, Murray’s tournament ended with some concern as he struggled with an abdominal injury and was defeated by Matteo Berrettini 6-4, 5-7 , 6-3.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t cross the line today, but there’s been a lot of progress over the last few weeks,” Murray said. “I’m looking forward to the future and feeling so much better with my game. I hope my body lasts a little longer, so I can keep playing games like this.”
After reaching the final without losing a set, an even bigger challenge was faced by Murray in Berrettini, last year’s Wimbledon finalist, who has returned from a three-month layoff after surgery in the hand. The Italian prevailed immediately, gutted Murray’s second serve to secure an early break, and then dominated with his huge right and serve in the first set.
During the second set, Murray held on to the service, but with the 4-4 he faced three break points with the game hanging by a thread. Murray saved them all, stayed ahead of the service and then his sustained pressure on Berrettini finally made a big breakthrough when Murray broke love to force a third set.
The Stuttgart Open was Matteo Berrettini’s first tournament since March. Photography: Bernd Wei’brod / AP
As soon as Murray tied, however, the match ended in full force. After a short tussle with the defender, Murray finally tucked the ball home. He could not serve at full speed and then, in the middle of his service game, with the 2-4, he underwent another medical timeout. Against one of the largest servers in the world, a Murray fought, but could not make any more impression.
Murray then said it was a left abdominal injury he suffered in the third set while he knew, instead of a left hip injury, how it was initially reported: “It’s very long. [since] I played nine games in 14 days, “said Murray, who also played on Surbiton last week.” I also played Thursday through Saturday last week and then Thursday through Sunday here. So it’s probably normal for me to feel something in my body, but I don’t really know how serious it is. I’ll have to check. I hope everything is fine. “
Murray is scheduled to compete at the Queen’s in London, which starts on Monday, where Lorenzo Sonego will be drawn.
But now his playing presence is clearly in doubt due to his physical problems. If he plays, Murray, who is now back in the top 50 for the first time since 2018, would have a chance to be a Wimbledon series leader with a deep career at home.
Stuttgart continues to be an extremely positive development for him. Over the last year he has already shown that he is still able to compete well against the best players, but it has often been difficult for him to maintain the high level of the old ones and he has fought badly in key points. Not only did he play at a high and steady level during his stay in Germany, but those problems disappeared.
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Overall, although a month of tour abandonment helped him unlock a higher level, the heavy load on Murray’s body during his first week of backing obviously took its toll. The challenge for him, as always, is to stay healthy to take advantage of the progress he continues to make.
Stuttgart Open tournament organizers are investigating claims by Nick Kyrgios that he suffered racial abuse by spectators during his semi-final defeat to Murray on Saturday.
Kyrgios, who refused to play during the second set until the supervisor intervened, lost 7-6 (5) 6-2. He later revealed on Instagram that he had retaliated after hearing a racial insult.
“We advocate the creation of an inclusive environment for all players, staff members and visitors where no discrimination is tolerated. This attitude is experienced by all those involved and responsible,” organizers said in a statement.
In s’-Hertogenbosch, world number 205 Tim van Rijthoven won one of the most notable title series in recent years by defeating world number 2 Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-1 to win his first ATP title. as a wildcard on the domestic floor.
The 25-year-old Dutchman’s title included victories over 9th-ranked Felix Auger Aliassime, and No. 14 Taylor Fritz, second and third seed. He had never played a major ATP match before or even faced one of the top 40.
At home, Dan Evans defeated Jordan Thompson to win the Rothesay Open in Nottingham for the second time in three years.
The British No. 2 went down to the second tier Challenger Tour to start his turf season and reaped the benefits by regaining the title he won in 2019.
Evans didn’t lose a set all week, and ended his title career with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Thompson, who won the Challenger title at Surbiton last week.