Indian Wells as it happened - Murray beaten by Alexander Zverev in huge clash at Indian Wells Masters 2021
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Updated 13/10/2021 at 01:08 GMT
All the key action from the Indian Wells Masters 2021 as it happened as Britain's Andy Murray lost to Olympic champion Alexander Zverev in their huge third-round clash.
Watch the moment Murray gets booed for underarm serve
GAME, SET AND MATCH! - MURRAY 4-6 6-7 ZVEREV
Zverev gets the job done this time. He serves well in the breaker and takes it 7-4 as Murray volley long after a face off at the net. The Scot slams his racket to the floor and offers a cool handshake. He will reflect on a solid showing though and can take real positives from it.
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Zverev almost lets a 3-0 lead slip but then slams down an ace to lead 4-2 at the change of ends.
MURRAY 4-6 6-6 ZVEREV
Well – that was unexpected! Murray shows great defence but that was all about Zverev capitulating. He somehow smashes into the net at 15-15 and then blows an overhead way long on break back point. All square and time for a tie break!
BREAK! – MURRAY 4-6 5-6 ZVEREV
Murray can’t find the power or accuracy on serve and it could be fatal. Sascha nails an overhead to snare break point and then gleefully accepts the gift as the Scot double faults. Zverev will now serve for the match.
MURRAY 4-6 5-5 ZVEREV
No drama for Sascha as he surges through a convincing hold to leave this set ever so finely poised.
MURRAY 4-6 5-4 ZVEREV
Murray shrugs off an early double fault to keep his nerve late in this set.
MURRAY 4-6 4-4 ZVEREV
Murray mutters lambasts himself for a series of errors with shots he expects to make. One comes off the backhand after he had made deuce with a quite brilliant forehand up the line. Zverev gratefully accepts the let off and levels matters.
Shoe-gate!
Zverev needs new laces and then takes an eternity to weave them through the holes!
MURRAY 4-6 4-3 ZVEREV
It’s tight and oh, so tense. Murray is not budging though. He edges the game from deuce to nudge the board in his favour as we enter the business end of the proceedings in the Set 2.
MURRAY 4-6 3-3 ZVEREV
Another what might have been moment for Muzza. He has his chances from 0-30 but can’t quite manufacture an opening. Zverev’s second serve again wobbles but he manages to get out dodge to consolidate from deuce.
BREAK! – MURRAY 4-6 3-2 ZVEREV
That’s a tough one for Muzza to take. He wins what is surely the point of the match with a drop-shot lob combo that has Zverev tripping over himself trying to retrieve it. The Scot then screams in anguish as a forehand clips the net and bounces out. A shocker of a drop shot gifts Zverev the break back point and he manages to take it with a pass up the line on the run.
BREAK! – MURRAY 4-6 3-1 ZVEREV
Muzza gets his reward. The three-time major winner has been ultra positive at the start of this set, looking to make things happen. He shows great foot speed to pick up a drop shot at the net to snare two break points and Zverev wobbles badly, throwing down a third double fault to cough up the break.
MURRAY 4-6 2-1 ZVEREV
Sir Andy continues to rally himself with shouts of Let’s go!’ and ‘Come on!’ It does the trick in this game as he marauds to a very strong love hold to keep his nose in front.
MURRAY 4-6 1-1 ZVEREV
Frustration for Muzza. He presses forward at the net and forces Zverev to go for a pass up the line that just drops long to cough up two break points. It’s a big opportunity but the Brit can’t take it as the 24-year-old responds brilliantly to stave them both off before easing to the hold from deuce.
MURRAY 4-6 1-0 ZVEREV
Superb. Murray glides into the net and produces a deft pick-up at his feet to tease a shot just over the net and leave Sascha chasing in vain. It’s a key point at 15-15 and from there the former world No.1 motors through to kick off Set 2 on a positive note.
SET! – MURRAY 4-6 ZVEREV
Murray can do little to halt the German’s charge as he easily holds to love to take the opener in 49 minutes.
MURRAY 4-5 ZVEREV
Serve-out question posed as Murray stops the rot. The world No.121 stands tall at the net to block a volley into the open court and take a solid game to 15. Can he bite back right at the end or will Zverev’s first serve get him over the line?
MURRAY 3-5 ZVEREV
Once again Murray fails to make enough impact. Zverev’s first serve is doing most of the damage with 76 per cent of those earning him cheap points. The Olympic champion is one game away from taking a first set that Murray made a strong start in.
BREAK! – MURRAY 3-4 ZVEREV
Ouch. Murray is doing far too much scampering, particularly on his own serve. Zverev is looking really assured now and corks a sizzling crosscourt forehand to earn two more break points. He only needs one to hit the front as he reels off a fourth game in a row.
MURRAY 3-3 ZVEREV
Too good. You sense the match is going to be on Zverev’s racket. If he gets the big first serve in and finds the lines Murray is going to be doing a lot of chasing. The Brit gets a foothold in the game from 40-15 down but can’t engineer a break back chance and an emphatic overhead sees the 24-year-old level things up.
BREAK! – MURRAY 3-2 ZVEREV
Zverev is slowly beginning to wrestle control of more and more of the rallies. Murray gets lucky for 30-30 when the Olympic champion fizzes a forehand just into the tramlines, but he can’t resist this time. The German roars with delight as he snares the break back.
MURRAY 3-1 ZVEREV
That’s more like it from Sascha. He finds some big first serves and gets himself on the board to 15.
MURRAY 3-0 ZVEREV
It’s far from routine but Murray eventually consolidates the break in a game lasting 10 minutes. The world No.121 looks in control at 40-15 but when Zverev bites back to deuce things start to get interesting. The Brit is forced to resist two break back points before landing a wide ace to ensure he survives a lengthy test.
BREAK! – MURRAY 2-0 ZVEREV
It’s the perfect start! Murray stands right up on Zverev’s second serve and earns an immediate double fault. The Scot benefits from a couple of long attempts off both flanks from the German but it’s a sublime crosscourt pass off the backhand that is the key to an immediate break after some trademark defence.
MURRAY 1-0 ZVEREV
A pair of aces and some superb depth trading from the baseline outweigh a double fault and a shoddy forehand low into the net to ensure Murray starts on the front foot.
Zverev eager to complete 'big four' set
“I’m happy to be in the third round and playing Andy now. I think he’s the only one of the Big Four I haven’t beaten yet, so I hope I can change that,” Zverev said. “I think it’s incredible how well he’s moving and incredible how well he’s playing. I think he’s very motivated so I hope I can show my best tennis.”
Did you know?
A win would see Murray reach the fourth round of a Masters event for the first time since he won the Paris Masters on his way to becoming year-end No.1 in 2016. It would also be his best run at Indian Wells since making the semis in 2015.
Murray on Zverev
“He's had a good summer post Wimbledon with the Olympics, then a great run in New York. Played a tough match with Novak [Djokovic] there. Not going to be easy for me. I played some good matches against him in the past. Yeah, will need to play really well. Obviously the match that we played last year, not saying he was playing his best tennis at that stage, but he did make the final of the US Open a couple of weeks later. I wasn't physically feeling particularly good and did not play particularly well, but managed to win. From that perspective I can gain confidence from that, that if I play a really good match I'll be right in there with a shot.”
H2H
Murray leads the match-up 2-0 and was the surprise winner the last time they faced off at the Cincinnati Masters last year (6-3 3-6 7-5).
Prior to that you have to go back to the 2016 Australian Open for their first clash with the Scot triumphing 6-1 6-2 6-3 in round one.
'My game's not been great' - Murray
Murray says his victory over Carlos Alcaraz, in a match billed as the 'battle of the generations', may well be his best since he returned from his career-threatening hip resurfacing surgery.
The former world number one has struggled with a number of serious injuries in recent years. He has undergone multiple hip procedures, including a resurfacing surgery in 2019. The three-time Grand Slam winner has not been beyond the third round of a major since 2017, and lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in a five-set epic in the first round of the 2021 US Open.
He was granted a wildcard at Indian Wells, and followed up a first-round win over Adrian Mannarino with an impressive victory against Alcaraz on Sunday and said it might be his best performance since his return.
“It would be up there for sure,” he said during his on-court interview.
“Maybe Stan [Wawrinka] in the final in Antwerp or [Alexander] Zverev last year in Cincinnati. It’s up there as it was a brutal match in tough conditions. The way I fought after losing the first set was great. I feel I should have won that first set, I created lots of chances but didn’t take it. It would have been easy to let that slip away, but I kept fighting and finished it well."
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Highlights: Murray digs deep to beat rising star Alcaraz at Indian Wells
The 34-year-old Murray produced a typical battling performance to fight back from a set down to oust the 18-year-old 5-7 6-3 6-2 in three hours and three minutes, and added that, while his game is still not where he wants it to be, he had a game plan, stuck to it and retained his focus.
“I wanted to try and match his energy throughout the match. He’s obviously a young guy and I wanted to match that and in a way try to mirror him as best as I could. When it was getting tight both of us were showing frustration and in these conditions it’s tough to stay focused and not get frustrated. But I did a better job than I have done in a lot of my matches lately by just focusing on the next point and not thinking about what just happened,” added Murray.
My game’s not been great. I’ve not been happy with how I’ve been playing.
"I said to myself this week, because regardless of how I’m playing, ‘you’ve never liked conditions here so just accept it and the best you can do is fight for every point and give your best effort on every point and see what happens.’ I played some good stuff today but not always. The first match was the same but I had a really good attitude. I’ve won two matches off the back of that."
WELCOME
Hello and welcome to Eurosport's live text coverage of all the key action from the Indian Wells Masters 2021 as Britain's Andy Murray takes on Olympic champion Alexander Zverev in their huge third-round clash.
Murray produced a heroic performance to down rising Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz in the second round and has nothing to lose against the German, who is the overwhelming favourite.
Emma Raducanu issues plea for experienced mentors following defeat
Emma Raducanu has issued a candid plea for experienced mentors to contact her following her tame defeat at the Indian Wells Open on Friday.
The 18-year-old split with Andrew Richardson, the coach who guided her to US Open success, four weeks ago, leaving her with no more than a skeleton crew to travel to the Californian desert with co-agent Chris Helliar, hitting partner Raymond Sarmiento (who lives locally in Los Angeles) and Jeremy Bates.
Had Raducanu reached her putative meeting with 2019 Wimbledon champion Simona Halep in the next round, she would have had no coach with her at all on courtside; Bates, a former British No 1, was always going to leave the tournament this weekend because of prior commitments with the British No 5 Katie Boulter.
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