‘Frustrated’ Murray digs in to set up Tsitsipas tie

ANDY Murray defeated seventh seed Alexander Bublik to reach the quarterfinals of the Boss Open in Stuttgart.

The Scot has headed to Germany for his first ATP Tour event of the season on grass and will face top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas next after seeing off Kazakh Bublik 6-3 7-6 (4).

Murray had to work hard in the second set after dropping serve twice in succession, but saved two set points at 2-5 and another two games later before winning five of the last six points in the tie-break.

It was a third meeting between the three-time grand slam champion and 42nd-ranked Bublik this season, with Murray taking a 2-1 advantage.

Bublik is known as one of the more flamboyant players on tour, and Murray said in his on-court interview: “He’s predictable in his unpredictability. You’re prepared for some amazing shots and then maybe some loose games.

“Today he played some amazing stuff for five or six games in the second set and everything was coming off. I was getting a bit frustrated but I kept fighting, held a tough game at 5-2 and then I thought I played well through to the finish.”

Murray’s only previous meeting with Tsitsipas was a memorable one in the first round of the US Open last year, when he led by two sets to one only to lose in five.

■ BRITAIN’S Harriet Dart saved three match points to reach her first WTA quarter-final with a dramatic tie-break victory over Italian third seed Camila Giorgi at the Rothesay Open.

Dart returned to court tied at one set all with the world number 26 having clawed level before play was suspended on Wednesday.

With a tense decider remaining on serve, the 25-year-old was on the brink of exiting the competition at 40-0 down in the 10th game but she dug in to eventually progress 5-7 6-4 7-6 (3) and claim a personal milestone.

Her reward for a gruelling victory, which took two hours and 34 minutes over the two days, is a last-eight meeting with sixth-seeded American Alison Riske, who overcame 2019 champion Caroline Garcia 6-4 7-5.

Further British interest in the women’s draw was ended following exits for Katie Boulter and Lily Miyazaki.

Boulter lost 6-3 6-4 to Australian fifth seed Ajla Tomljanovic yesterday evening, while earlier Miyazaki was defeated 6-2 7-6 (4) by Brazilian seventh-seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Meanwhile, top seed Maria Sakkari came from a set down to beat Canadian Rebecca Marino 1-6 6-3 6-3.

In the men’s draw, Britain’s Liam Broady recovered from losing the opening set to beat Finland’s Otto Virtanen 2-6 7-5 6-2 and will next play Jack Sock, who defeated Frenchman Geoffrey Blancaneaux 6-0 4-6 6-2, but Jay Clarke lost 6-4 6-4 to Australian third seed Jordan Thompson.

Andy Murray