Paris Masters 2021 – 'I didn't deserve to win' - Andy Murray after missing seven match points

ByEurosport

Updated 02/11/2021 at 12:51 GMT

"I didn't deserve to win the match. I didn't play well enough to win. That's the thing I am most disappointed with, the way I played tonight," said Andy Murray after his first-round defeat against Dominik Koepfer at the Paris Masters. Murray will conclude his 2021 season at the Stockholm Open next week.

Andy Murray insists he "didn’t deserve to win" after he failed to convert seven match points in his first-round, three-set defeat to Dominik Koepfer at the Paris Masters.

The three-time Grand Slam winner – now ranked 144 in the world – started slowly but grew into the match, and served for it at one-set all. He would go on too lose 6-4 5-7 7-6(9).

The 34-year-old had two match points at 5-4 in the third and then a further five in the tie-break. Koepfer, a late replacement for Jenson Brooksby, took his first match-point opportunity to set up a second-round showdown against either Felix Auger Aliassime or Gianluca Mager.

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Murray squanders seven match points in first round loss to Koepfer

Asked post-match about the loss, Murray said that, despite the seven match points, he felt he did not deserve to win.

"I am very disappointed just now. It is probably not one of my most painful (defeats),” said Murray.

It's the first round of the tournament and I didn't deserve to win the match. I didn't play well enough to win. That's the thing I am most disappointed with, the way I played tonight.

"I did really well to get myself in the position to win the match but I don't think I deserved to win to be honest. I had a ton of opportunities in the end to do it but the way I was playing tonight was not good enough."

Murray has enjoyed some notable successes in recent weeks. His win against Herbert Hurkacz at the Vienna Open represented a first win against a top 10 player since his August 2020 success against Alexander Zverev in Cincinnati. He would then go on to lose to rising star Carlos Alcaraz. However, he insisted then that it was only a matter of time before he put together a streak of wins.

"I’m not going to keep losing in the second and third round of tournaments," the former world number one told reporters after that defeat.

I will get better and I will improve and I will break through in one week, or two weeks, or a few months. It will happen. I obviously would like it to be happening quicker than what it is.

"But he did play extremely well and he's a top young player and if you're hitting single-digit unforced errors playing that way and with the power that he has it's going to be tough…

"If I continue on that path and build up a little bit more consistency, be that little bit more clinical and a bit more ruthless I will start winning more and have some deep runs, but it's tough.

"Draws have been hard, I've played in some tough tournaments. The draw was stacked here [in Vienna]. There were no easy matches here. It will happen sooner rather than later I think."

Murray will conclude his 2021 season at the Stockholm Open next week.

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