Olympic Champion Alexander Zverev overcame a gritty Andy Murray in their fourth round match at the Indian Wells Open in California. Murray was a break ahead in the opening set but the German third seed stopped him gaining any significant momentum. The Californian crowd were clearly behind the Brit but the former World No 1 began to get frustrated as he struggled to find his rhythm and at one point threw his racquet at his bag in rage as Zverev began to take control of proceedings.
After Zverev won a tight opening set, the second was just as close. Once again Murray managed to claim an early break of serve but the German fought back to level the set and force a tie-break. In the end it was the World No 4 that prevailed victorious 6-4 7-6 after a valiant display from the 34-year-old Murray .
It was the first time Zverev had beaten Andy Murray after losing on two previous occasions and the German was delighted with the victory and said after the match, “He’s the only one of the Big Four that I hadn’t beaten yet, so I’m happy that I’ve done it today”.
Two-time Wimbledon Champion Murray needed a wildcard to enter the tournament at Indian Wells but seemed to be happy with his performance overall, making the point that despite hip surgery he has managed to compete with the best players on the tour.
There was better news for British tennis as Cameron Norrie overcame Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 5-7 6-3 to reach the last 16 of the tournament. The British number two will face American Tommy Paul in the next round, who shocked Russian fourth seed Andrey Rublev in the round of 32.
“2015 US Open Tennis – Qualies -Alexander Zverev (GER) [2] def. Nils Langer (GER)” by Steven Pisano is licensed under CC BY 2.0.