Andy Murray pulled off a comeback in a gruelling two-hour and 31-minute first-round match at the Dubai Championships. The Brit came through 4-6 7-6(5) 6-3 in what was just his second win of the season over Denis Shapovalov, the former world No. 10 who has dropped outside of the world’s top 100 following a six-month injury layoff.
Murray and Shapovalov both came into Dubai with just one match win each for the season. The Brit finally snapped a six-match losing streak in Doha last week while Shapovalov – who recently returned from a knee injury – earned his sole victory in Montpellier. It was their first meeting on a hard court after splitting their previous matches 1-1.
The first eight games easily went the way of the server until Murray found himself in a spot of trouble while serving at 4-4. Shapovalov was the first to set up break point chances and he wasted no time, converting his second to give himself a chance to serve for the set.
The former world No. 1 threw his racket down in frustration as he retreated to his bench and the Canadian went on to close out the set 6-4. It was a strong response from Murray as he started set two with a love-hold, successfully challenging calls three times in one game.
He kept on rolling, creating his first break point opportunity of the match, but he couldn’t take it. After saving two more on his own serve, Murray was finally rewarded as he won a game on the Shapovalov serve for the first time. But he immediately relinquished the advantage and the former world No. 10 got back on serve.
The 24-year-old had another chance to break at 4-4 which would have allowed him to serve for the match but Murray slammed the door shut and kept his nose in front. After some gruelling games, both men raced into a tiebreak where they traded mini-breaks early on.
But the final blow in the tiebreak came at 5-5 as Murray earned his third mini-break and had the set on his racket, taking it 7-6(5) after 76 minutes. Shapovalov departed the court for a comfort break and it ruined his momentum as the 2017 Dubai champion pounced first and earned an immediate break of serve.
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