Andy Murray was a defeated man, however one second throughout his press convention following his loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas fully broke him.
The lion hearted Scot threw every thing he had on the fifth ranked Greek star, falling in 5 gruelling units that spanned two days.
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The two-time Wimbledon champion had his youthful opponent on the ropes, main two units to 1 earlier than play was suspended as a result of event’s curfew.
Tsitsipas discovered his mojo when the match resumed and flipped the script on Murray as he claimed the 7-6, 6-7, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 win to advance to the third spherical.
But it was one second within the tense fourth set that left the previous world primary burying his face into his palms.
In the ninth recreation of the set in opposition to Tsitsipas’ serve, Murray held the benefit at 15-30 as he unleashed a crosscourt backhand.
Tsitsipas managed to return the shot however the ball was referred to as out. Murray seemed to his field earlier than deciding to not problem the decision.
Replays rolled and confirmed the ball had clipped the road, the sport went to 30-30 as an alternative of a possible 15-40 and two break factors for Murray.
Murray nevertheless solely discovered the news his shot was good throughout his post-game press convention when a journalist requested him in regards to the second.
“Big moment at 4-all in the fourth when you had a bit of momentum going at 15-30 and your return got called out but it was actually in. Did you realise at the time how close that was?” the journalist requested.
Murray, virtually shocked, responded: “The 15-30 point my return was in?”
“Yep,” got here the response. Prompting Murray to drop his head into his palms and linger out an “oh…”.
The heartbreak was evident for the tennis world to see because the second of realisation on the missed alternative washed over the star.
The defeat means 36-year-old Murray has not made the second week of a Grand Slam since reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2017.
It can even increase questions over his long-term future within the sport regardless of valiant makes an attempt to rebuild his profession following two hip surgical procedures.
“I don’t know,” mentioned Murray when requested if he can be again on the All England Club subsequent 12 months.
“Motivation is obviously a big thing. Continuing having early losses in tournaments like this don’t necessarily help with that.” He admitted {that a} second spherical defeat at Wimbledon to John Isner final 12 months had prompted the same bout of soul-searching.
“I had a long think about things, spoke to my family, decided to keep on going. “I don’t plan to stop right now. But this one will take a little while to get over.
“Hopefully I will find the motivation again to keep training, keep pushing, try and keep getting better.”
Tsitsipas will now tackle Laslo Djere in a 3rd spherical encounter.
– with AFP
Source: www.news.com.au
