Andy Murray beats Frances Tiafoe in epic clash at European Open and faces Diego Schwartzman next

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Updated 20/10/2021 at 07:19 GMT

World No 172 Andy Murray beat Frances Tiafoe in three hours and 45 minutes to reach the second round of the European Open. Murray saved two match points at the end of a gruelling contest and will enjoy a day off to recover before he faces second seed Diego Schwartzman in Antwerp on Thursday.

Andy Murray made a winning return to the European Open in Antwerp as he saved two match points to beat Frances Tiafoe in an epic first-round contest.

Murray won his last title at the European Open in 2019, and kept alive his hopes of a repeat after beating world No 48 Tiafoe 7-6(2) 6-7(7) 7-6(8) in three hours and 45 minutes.

World No 172 Murray will next face second seed Diego Schwartzman on Thursday.

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"My body’s old now," he said afterwards.

I played a lot of matches on the tour; I don’t mind playing long matches but that was taking it to another level. Brilliant match, amazing atmosphere.

Tiafoe had beaten Murray in Winston-Salem earlier this summer and he made a strong start as he broke in the third game.

Murray missed the chance to break straight back from 0-40, but got back on level terms at 5-5 when Tiafoe was serving for the set and hit a double fault at 30-30.

Murray produces stunning winner against Tiafoe

Murray lost serve immediately to give Tiafoe another opportunity, only for the American to miss a set point and then get broken back.

An entertaining set swung in Murray’s favour in the tie-break as he reeled off six points in a row from 2-1 down to move ahead.

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Murray had chances to break in the third and seventh games of the second set but couldn’t convert.

He started the tie-break with a brilliant passing shot, only for Tiafoe to fight back from 3-1 down to 5-3 ahead. The American spurned four set points before eventually taking an opportunity to level.

There was little between the pair in a hard-fought third set that saw them trade breaks before another tie-break.

Both saw match points saved against the serve before Murray wrapped up a thrilling win with a drop shot that Tiafoe couldn’t return.

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