Qatar Open: At the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, Andy Murray overcame a set deficit and held off three match points to defeat Lorenzo Sonego in a thrilling tie-break encounter.
Murray, a wildcard for the ATP 250 competition, won his first match since his outstanding performance at the Australian Open last month with a score of 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-4)
Sonego won the first set, but Murray came back to break twice in the second set to force a decisive third set in the round of 32.
Running out of superlatives for this Scot 🤯
3️⃣ match points saved as @andy_murray reels in Sonego 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4)@QatarTennis | #Qemo2023 pic.twitter.com/kMFzyVtQrV
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 20, 2023
Murray then fended off three match points to keep his serve in the tenth game and force a tie-break, where he overcame dropping the first three games to emerge victorious.
After the game, Murray observed, “That was pretty challenging. Because we had never previously practised or played together, I was unsure of how the match would proceed, and it took me some time to get used to his style of play.”
“He plays with a lot of aggression and takes many chances, but tennis is a high-risk sport. When he finally rolled the dice, it appeared like he was ahead. Fortunately, he made a few errors in the middle of that tie-break, which allowed me to win.”
After saving a match point to defeat Matteo Berrettini to open his Australian Open campaign, Murray needed a final-set tie-break to advance past the first round of this tournament.
Murray will next play Zverev.
The 35-year-old will now compete against fourth seed Alexander Zverev on Wednesday in the round of 16. Zverev had a bye in the first round.
The German is making progress in his recovery after rupturing three ligaments in his ankle against Rafael Nadal in last year’s French Open semifinal.
Murray, who currently boasts a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over Zverev, said of Zverev, “He’s certainly one of the top players in the world.”
“He very recently recovered from a serious injury he suffered at Roland Garros last year. He is currently going to get better every week.
“Injuries like that take time, so he’s not quite back to where he was in the middle of last year. It will be a fantastic match, and hopefully, I can keep improving.”
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