London [UK], July 8 : Trailing overnight, Stefanos Tsitsipas completed a thrilling turnaround victory on Friday at the ongoing Wimbledon 2023 when he stormed past two-time champion Andy Murray 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.
On Thursday, the Scot led the Greek 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 6-4 before play was called off at 10:38 pm. Because a finish before the 11 pm. curfew appeared highly doubtful, the match was called off.
Tsitsipas, the World No. 5, came out fire on Friday's resumption. With his blistering forehand, he broke through to the third round of Wimbledon for the third time in a match that lasted for four hours and 41 minutes.
Murray and Tsitsipas fought blow for blow in the first set, with both players giving their opponent little opportunities on serve. Tsitsipas was the more aggressive of the two, striking 21 wins to Murray's 11, but Murray showed terrific movement to stay in rallies.
Tsitsipas took control of the tie-break after Murray saved a set point on serve at 5-6 with a forehand that clipped the line. The World No. 5 used terrific footwork to command with the forehand, outmuscling Murray to take the lead.
However, Murray answered in the second set. He hit his solid groundstrokes with depth and stayed focused during the tie-break, committing only two unforced errors in the set. When he returned to his chair, the Scot raised his fist in the air, relishing the shout from the home crowd.
The former World No. 1 then took an early break in the third set and demonstrated his battling spirit by saving two break points on service at 2-1 to keep his momentum. From then on, the Scot was dominant on serve, leading two sets to one.
But there was one concern for Murray in the final game of the third set. While serving for the set, the Scot fell and gripped his groyne, but rose to his feet and sealed the match on the next point.
When they returned on Friday with the roof open, they picked up where they left off, with brutal baseline exchanges in the order of the fourth set. Tsitsipas was the more aggressive in the tie-break in a close set, pouncing on short balls to equalise.
Murray then began the fifth set lazily and was broken early in the set. Tsitsipas took over from there, brutally sweeping through his service games to advance.
"It is never easy against Andy. I know everyone loves him here. It was a very difficult game and I was very impressed with his level. Having had two surgeries, I was very impressed with his level today and I wish him the very best," ATP.com quoted Tsitsipas as saying.
"It was nerve-wracking. It is difficult when you have grown up watching him play on this court. I looked up to him, I looked up to Novak, Roger, Rafa. These four guys shaped the game and are the reason I am the player I am today," he added.
"You are dealing with a lot of things. First of all you are facing Andy Murray and are down. You have to come up with solutions and that was the most challenging part. You are dealing with someone who returns lots of balls in... I had to work extra hard today to get the victory," Tsitsipas said when asked about Thursday's suspension," Tsitsipas said.
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