Determined Murray eyes return to glory with tough win
SHENZHEN, China: There were flashes of the glory days for Britain’s former world number one Andy Murray on Thursday as he dumped top seed David Goffin of Belgium out of the ATP Shenzhen Open 6- 3, 6- 4 in roundof-16 action.
The 31-year- old dug deep when it mattered -- like the Murray of old -- brushing off 70 percent of break points faced and firing down 15 aces against a player ranked 11th in the world.
“I felt like in terms of the way I hit the ball, it was the best I’ve played, and I think I knew that I was going to have to hit the ball very well if I wanted to win,” Murray said afterwards.
Goffin kept the pressure on throughout, breaking Murray twice to claw his way back into a thrilling second set before the British player’s trademark determination prevailed.
Three times the 27- year- old Goffin threatened to break with the score at 5- 4, and three times Murray found a win to fight back before sealing the set, and the match, with an ace.
“I love the conditions that we play in,” said Murray, winner of the first Shenzhen Open in 2014.
“Usually it’s quite humid, and the courts are a little bit faster than what we usually play on the tour,” he added.
“I feel like I’m able to control the ball very well here.”
With the top seed gone, the tournament now opens up enticingly for Murray as Greek second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was also bundled out in the round of 16 by Frenchman PierreHugues Herbert, 6- 3, 7- 6 (7- 4). Fellow British player Cameron Norrie also sent Croatian third-seed Borna Coric packing 6- 4, 7- 6 (10- 8) at the same stage. — AFP