Andy Murray beats world number 10 Hubert Hurkacz to reach Vienna Open second round, Dan Evans falls
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Updated 25/10/2021 at 20:21 GMT
Andy Murray will play Carlos Alcaraz in the second round of the Vienna Open after the Briton beat Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets on Monday. World number 156 Murray needed two hours and 40 minutes to get past the Pole 6-4 6-7 6-3. However, hopes of an all-British second-round clash were dashed earlier on Monday when Alcaraz beat Dan Evans.
Britain's Andy Murray celebrates after winning against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz (not in picture) during the men's singles match at the Erste Bank Open Tennis tournament in Vienna on October 25, 2021. - - Austria OUT (Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / AFP) /
Image credit: Getty Images
Andy Murray is through to the second round of the Vienna Open following a marathon 6-4 6-7(6) 6-3 defeat of fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz in Vienna.
British number five Murray needed two hours and 40 minutes to secure his first win over a top 10 player this year, and set up a second-round clash with Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
World number 42 Alcaraz put paid to hopes of an all-British match-up in the next round when he beat Dan Evans 6-4 6-3 earlier on Monday.
Murray started his match brightly and forced two break points in the third game before Hurkacz fought back to hold and take a 2-1 lead.
The match continued with serve until the ninth game when Murray gave himself two break points and took the second to put himself into a 5-4 lead. The 34-year-old then held serve to win the opener 6-4.
It took Hurkacz until the sixth game of the second set to put serious pressure on Murray’s serve but he was unable to convert four break point chances as his opponent recovered from 0-40 down.
Both players were unable to convert break points in the next two games and the rest of the set went with serve to finish 6-6 and set up a tiebreaker.
The tiebreaker was a nail-biting affair until, with the score at 6-6, Murray produced two unforced errors in a row to enable Hurkacz to take the match into a third set.
Pole Hurkacz broke Murray in the opening game of the deciding set, but the Brit hit straight back to level it at 1-1.
From then on, the third set went with serve until the sixth game when Murray converted another break point opportunity to take a 4-2 lead.
Murray then held serve before Hurkacz did likewise to make the 34-year-old serve for the match. Murray failed to convert two match points as the fifth seed fought back to set up two break points but it proved third time lucky for the Brit as he secured a hard-fought victory.
World number 156 Murray will now face Alcaraz in the second round in Vienna following the 18-year-old’s earlier win over Evans.
During a rollercoaster match in which both players struggled to hold their serve consistently, Evans was broken five times.
Spaniard Alcaraz broke Evans’ serve early in the first set to race into a 2-0 lead, although Evans hit back immediately to level at 2-2.
However, having forced his way back into contention Evans was broken again as the world number 42 took a 4-2 lead.
Once again Evans rallied and broke back immediately before holding serve to level the match once more at 4-4. But Alcaraz held serve in the ninth game of the match and then broke for a third time to seal the set 6-4.
Evans started the second set in dominant mood, breaking Alcaraz in the opening game and then holding his own serve to build a 2-0 lead.
The match continued on serve until the sixth game of the second set, when Evans was broken again to leave the score at 3-3.
Alcaraz broke Evans again in the eighth game of the second set and then held serve to complete a 6-4 6-3 victory.
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