Andy Murray storms into Qatar Open 2023 quarter-finals with marathon win over fourth seed Alexander Zverev
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Updated 22/02/2023 at 20:36 GMT
Andy Murray earned a superb three-set win over fourth seed Alexander Zverev to reach the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open. The 35-year-old triumphed 7-6(5) 2-6 7-5 in an epic contest lasting more than three hours to set up a clash with Alexandre Muller. The two-time champion was handed a wild card in Doha in his first outing since last month's Australian Open heroics.
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Andy Murray stormed into the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open with a stunning three-set win over fourth seed Alexander Zverev in an epic three-hour contest.
The 35-year-old, competing in Doha after being handed a wild card, had to battle hard to overcome the big-serving German, putting in another lung-busting effort two days after a marathon comeback victory over Lorenzo Sonego.
Murray, a two-time winner at this event, took a rollercoaster opening set in the tie-break before being blown away in the second, but he earned the only break of the decider at a crucial moment late on before serving out successfully for a 7-6(5) 2-6 7-5 win.
A quarter-final clash with world No.170 Alexandre Muller is next on the cards for the former world No. 1, who is competing in his first tournament since a memorable Australian Open run last month.
Top seed Andrey Rublev is a potential semi-final opponent for Murray if he gets past Muller, with the Russian facing Jiri Lehecka next.
Murray was determined not to get off to a bad start again like he did against Sonego, when he was broken in the opening game, and raced to a love hold to kick things off.
The crowd didn’t have to wait long for the first break, though, as Murray put a forehand long to give Zverev an early advantage, only to immediately break back when the German double faulted on the second of Murray’s three break points to make it 2-2.
History repeated itself later in the set as Murray saved two break points only to eventually succumb on serve to a Zverev smash, but the former world No. 2 couldn’t serve out the set as Murray set up two break points and produced a winner on the first.
After a tricky hold for Zverev, who saved two break points, the opener went to a tie-break and there was still nothing to separate the players as it stayed on serve all the way up to 5-4.
Murray eventually made the breakthrough to take a 6-4 lead and, despite Zverev’s ace in response, he held his nerve to take the tie-break 7-5 and clinch the first set.
Any hope of a rare, routine straight-sets win for Murray were dashed early in the second, as a deft drop shot from Zverev sealed an early break for the fourth seed.
Zverev didn’t look back from there, staying strong on serve before breaking Murray once more at the opportune moment to take the second set 6-2.
Murray stuck with it at the start of the decider, but couldn’t find any joy against the serve as Zverev hit a formidable rhythm with six aces in his first four service games.
The 35-year-old grew more and more frustrated at his inability to make progress in his return games, until he turned on the style when it mattered most.
Murray celebrated setting up two break points at 5-5 with a pump of the fist and a shout of ‘come on’ towards his box, and seized the first as his opponent went long.
It was now down to the former world No.1 to serve for a place in the quarter-finals and he delivered, dispatching his second match point with a backhand winner across court.
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