Britain’s Andy Murray managed to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber from Germany and won his first clay-court title with a 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 7-6 (7-4) in the Munich Open final. It was the 32nd ATP title of the Scot’s career as he prepares for the French Open at the end of the month.
The match was unfortunately interrupted due to heavy raining, however, the top seed needed just over 3 hours to beat the world number 24 Kohlschreiber.
“It was a really tough match, he served very close to the line and I was getting frustrated,” said Murray, 27.
“This was my first final on clay and to come out and play a match like that, I am very pleased to have won,” Murray said in courtside interview before slipping into a traditional Bavarian Lederhose on center court in an amusing award ceremony.
“I had very few chances when I was returning. I was lucky to get a couple of good shots when I was behind in the tiebreak and hang on in the end.”
Murray became the 1st Briton to win an ATP-ranked event on clay since Buster Mottram in Palma in April 1976.
The world number 3, playing in his first tournament since marrying long-term girlfriend Kim Sears last month, added:
“I didn’t realise I was the first Brit to win on clay for so long, so that’s obviously an honour.”
Interestingly, he and Kohlschreiber could meet again in the 2nd round of this week’s Madrid Masters.
The final resumed on Monday after heavy rain stopped play on Sunday evening with Kohlschreiber leading 3-2 in the first set. Both players confidently held serve to take the opener into a tie-break, and it was world number 3 Murray, watched by new coach Jonas Bjorkman, who got the mini-break to snatch the set after almost an hour.
Murray had three break points at 4-3 up in the 2nd set, but Kohlschreiber held his nerve and then broke Murray in the 11th game before serving out to level the match.
There were no breaks in the 3rd set and Murray clinched victory on his 2nd match point in another tie-break when Kohlschreiber, the winner in Munich in 2007 and 2012, sent a backhand long.
Andy Murray vs Philipp Kohlschreiber, 04/05/2015, 09:10 GMT, Match Center
Munich Open: Murray triumphs with the title
No comments:
Post a Comment