(Reuters) – Former world primary Andy Murray secured his first victory over a top-five opponent in six years with a 7-6(4) 6-3 win over Greek prime seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to attain the semi-finals of the Stuttgart Open on Friday.
The two-times Wimbledon champion stepped up his preparation for the grasscourt main beginning this month by battling via a decent opening set towards world quantity 5 Tsitsipas earlier than rolling again the years in the second set to full the win.
The Scot’s largest win by rating since he overcame Novak Djokovic on the 2016 ATP Finals arrange a semi-final assembly with both Hungarian Marton Fucsovics or Australian Nick Kyrgios.
“I assumed I did properly. He served unbelievably properly in the primary set and I had only a few possibilities after I was returning,” the 35-year-old Murray stated in his post-match interview.
“But when he was creating alternatives on my serve I stayed sturdy. I performed a very strong tiebreak and in the second set, I served properly whereas his dropped a bit bit.
“Once I used to be in the rallies I felt like I used to be dictating lots of the factors so it was an excellent efficiency.”
Murray stated that he was glad to hit prime gear on his most well-liked floor.
“I do not need to say I used to be the smarter participant, however possibly this floor fits my type. Stefanos performs properly on all surfaces however this works actually properly for my sport and I’m ready to use my strengths higher.”
Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up, earlier booked his place in the final 4 of the ATP 250 occasion with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
He subsequent faces native favorite Oscar Otte, who went via following a walkover by Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
