Murray rolls back years as Nick sulks
ANDY MURRAY is through to his first grass-court final since winning Wimbledon in 2016 after overpowering the tetchy Nick Kyrgios 7-6, 6-2 in the Stuttgart Open yesterday.
The 35-year-old former world No1 turned back the clock in style, hitting big shots at the big moments to win a tight first set tie-break before blowing the bad-tempered Australian away in a second-set procession.
It means Murray has moved back into the world’s top 50 for the first time since 2018, and he will go higher still if he can take the next step by beating second seed Matteo Berrettini in the final for his first tour win in three years.
And there was more success for Britain when Dan Evans beat American big-hitter Jack Sock 7-5, 6-3 to book his place in the final of the Nottingham Open.
For Murray, who had claimed his first victory over a top-five player for more than five years when he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals on Friday, he couldn’t be timing his resurgence better with his beloved Wimbledon just two weeks away.
The two-time Wimbledon champion has yet to drop a set in Stuttgart as he improved his career record on grass to 114-23 with his demolition of Kyrgios.
‘It has been a long time since the last final on grass,’ said Murray, who has twice undergone hip surgery and been on the verge of retirement since his second Wimbledon triumph six years ago. ‘There’s been a lot of ups and downs but I kept going, kept working and finally managed to get another one.
‘I’m happy to be in the final. I’ve played well this week and I’ve got a great opportunity against Matteo.’
The final, his first since reuniting with coach Ivan Lendl, will be the 70th of Murray’s career, and it was another impressive performance from the double Olympic champion.
Murray refused to be perturbed by a trademark Kyrgios underarm serve during a first set which went to a tie-break.
That swung Murray’s way when Kyrgios netted casually with successive shots, and the Scot held serve to take the set — the Australian went into a familiar meltdown.
As Murray got stronger, Kyrgios went through his full repertoire of petulant antics. He smashed a racket, constantly complained to the umpire, received a penalty and childishly sat in his chair until the match supervisor intervened.
But by then Kyrgios had lost his focus and made numerous errors as Murray quickly wrapped up the second set.
‘Nick has the potential to be one of the best players in the world, there’s absolutely no question about that,’ said Murray.
‘But yeah, he obviously got very frustrated in the second set and made it a lot easier for me.’
Murray is provisionally up to No 47 in the world and will go higher should he beat Berrettini. He hasn’t himself ruled out being seeded at Wimbledon and, with three higher-ranked Russians banned from the All-England Club, it’s not looking beyond him.
As for Evans, he will meet Australia’s Jordan Thompson in today’s final at Nottingham as he seeks to reclaim a title he won three years ago.
The British No2 saved two set points in the tenth game of the first set against Sock and broke the American three times in the second.
‘It’s probably my toughest match yet so I’m just happy to come through,’ said Evans. ‘I nicked it really.’
Both Murray and Evans continue their Wimbledon preparations at Queen’s next week.
Murray begins his bid for a fifth title against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, and Evans faces defending champion and last year’s Wimbledon runner-up Berrettini.
British No1 Cameron Norrie, the third seed, takes on Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.