Andy Murray’s dreams of a fairytale third Wimbledon title are over (Picture: Reuters)
Andy Murray has crashed out of Wimbledon in the second round after losing to fifth-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in an epic five-set battle on Centre Court.
The match got underway on Thursday evening under the roof and Murray held the lead after hitting the 11pm curfew, winning the third set just before the close of play despite suffering a nasty fall.
But Greek star Tsitsipas was able to fight back on Friday afternoon to win 7-6 6-7 4-6 7-6 6-4 to end Murray’s hopes of landing a fairytale third Wimbledon title.
Former world No.1 Murray put up a strong fight, but ultimately, a tough draw after narrowly missing out on being seeded for the Championships proved to be too much.
There was genuine hope that Murray, 36, who plays with a metal hip after surgery saved his career, could upset Tsitsipas amid the British legend’s resurgence in 2023 which has seen him win three ATP Challenger titles and climb back inside the world top 40.
Murray was looking to secure his 200th Grand Slam match win and despite surpassing Jeremy Bates’ Open Era record for the most Wimbledon singles appearances by a British man, it is Tsitsipas who will face unseeded Serbian Laslo Djere, ranked world No.60, in the third round.
Tsitsipas started the match on serve and held comfortably before a topsy-turvy game two saw Murray hold and the Greek quickly smashed through another service game – in what was clearly a nervous start for the three-time Grand Slam winner – as an encouraging crowd grew more and more tense.
Stefanos Tsitsipas impressed in the early stages of the match and won the first set (Picture: Getty)
Murray held to love and then took issue with umpire Aurelie Tourte in game five when no let cord was given over a Tsitsipas ace, with the two-time Wimbledon champion convinced the ball touched the net. The decision stood, though, as Tsitsipas held and Murray returned the favour to make it 3-3.
Chants of ‘let’s go, Andy, let’s go’ began to chime around Centre Court but spectators could not stop another Tsitsipas hold and after Murray once again held to love, he got the home crowd roaring with a sensational backhand volley at full stretch at the net.
It was not enough to force a break point, though, as both players held again before Murray was made to save break point while 5-6 down, pumping his fist to the crowd after doing so, and as he held to make it 6-6 he again got fans fired up as he celebrated the point.
Tsitsipas won the tie-break to take the first set 7-6 (7-3) and both men held in their opening four service games of the second set without a sniff of a break point as the anticipation grew with every single point played.
After making it 30-30 in game 10 with a ferocious crosscourt backhand, Murray turned to the crowd and urged them to get loud as he looked to secure his first break point opportunity, but two strong Tsitsipas serves denied him as the 24-year-old held.
The duo continued to hold which resulted in another tie-break, even more intense than the first, and every point that Murray won, the volume increased inside Centre Court – with huge roars as he went 6-2 up before taking the second set 7-6 (7-2).
That appeared to fire Murray up and in the first game of the third set he earned himself three break point opportunities, converting his first as Tsitsipas fired into the net, and he held to open up the lead. A Tsitsipas hold followed and the Greek then missed two crucial break points for Murray to hang on to the lead.
It allowed Murray to serve for the third set, but while at 40-30 with the set score at 5-4, he took a nasty fall and screamed in agony to the horror of the crowd.
But up he got and carried on as Tsitsipas’ shot landed long for Murray to win the third set 6-4 before the umpire decided to call time on play for the day, 20 minutes before the official 11pm curfew.
The match resumed on Friday – this time with the roof open on Centre Court in hot conditions – and in the first game of the fourth set Tsitsipas held before Murray raced into a 40-love lead in game two, with the Greek star infuriated with the umpire over a Murray shot which landed out as the point was still given.
That saw Tsitsipas loudly booed and jeered by spectators but Murray held and the duo kept trading service games without any break points to force yet another tie-break.
Tsitsipas came out on top 7-6 (7-3) to take the match to a deciding fifth and final set and after an exchange of service games, Tsitsipas opened up three break point opportunities in game three – the first of the day on Friday – converting the third as the crowd groaned and the Greek pumped his fist.
Murray needed to break back to stay in the match but couldn’t produce the goods as Tsitsipas took the fifth set 6-4 to book his place in the third round.
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His dreams of a fairytale third title are over…