Murray falls to Tipsarevic
pictured
Andy Murray (pictured) suffered a 6-7 (5/7) 6-4 10-7 defeat to Janko Tipsarevic at Stoke Park
Andy Murray endured a further setback in his preparations for Wimbledon after slipping to defeat against Janko Tipsarevic at The Boodles tournament.
Murray, who was installed as fourth seed at the All England Club earlier on Wednesday, crashed out of the AEGON Championships in the opening round last week.
And in only his second match on grass before SW19 begins next Monday, the 25-year-old was beaten 6-7 (5/7) 6-4 10-7 by Tipsarevic amid the grand surroundings of Stoke Park.
Murray, however, will be grateful for a challenging afternoon against the world number eight from Serbia as he fine-tunes his build up to Wimbledon.
Several lively rallies lit up the third game and Tipsarevic was pushed hard on his serve before holding. The opening set continued to be keenly contested with both players' serves proving impenetrable and a tie break was needed to separate them.
Twice Murray trailed with Tipsarevic serving at 5-4 up, but twice the Scot fought back as he steadied his nerve.
Finally making inroads with his serve, he clinched the first set by outmanoeuvring Tipsarevic before firing a simple forehand.
Murray fired a stunning forehand early in the second set only to be broken in the fifth game, Tipsarevic somehow getting his racket to a bullet serve and the Scot then finding the net.
Two break points arrived in a hard-fought 10th but Murray was unable to capitalise on either, ushering in a tie break to decide the match with the rivals locked at one set each.
Murray showed his frustration as he was beaten by an easy backhand to trail 6-4 and he continued to be outgunned as Tipsarevic prevailed in the first to 10 decider.
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I'll just repeat the point I made on the other article. Andy Murray is actually very consistant at the major tournaments. Last year he reached the semifinals of all four grandslams (only the seventh person in history to achieve that btw.) The last time he was knocked out in the 4th round of Wimbledon was SIX years ago, when he ranked 16 in the world. To put that into context, consider the fact Murray has played at Wimbledon for 7 years now and has won 80% of his matches (current world number 1 Djokovic has won 81% over the same period, and probably the greatest tennis player of all time - Roger Federer - has won 94% of Wimbledon matches.)
I guess the point I'm making, is that nobody here seems to actually know anything about tennis, so why would Andy Murray care about your uneducated, biased opinions? Give the guy a break already.
Oh Stuart, small minded man. Andy Murray is a great player. He will win a major tournament. For me though, these people who are so anti-Murray must simply be using it as an excuse for not liking him as a person anyway or perhaps just hate Scotland.
I can understand some people in England not warming to him generally as Andy Murray’s public persona has been that of a fairly grumpy individual who is intensly focused on his game (presumably the reason for his success so surely a good thing), as opposed to the more cheerful demeanour of Tim Henman, who also happened to be the epitome of the English rural middle-class.
Whilst, the comment about supporting “anyone but England” has been overinflated. After all it was only said in jest, whilst he was being ribbed by a sports presenter and Tim Henman for the inability of the Scottish football team to qualify for the World Cup. What annoys me more is the hypocrisy of many who say it. After all, how many football fans out there don’t get a smug satisfaction in seeing their biggest rival fail in a football match, especially if that team is a team that has traditionally been one of the most successful around.
Ok then, not sure why Don Westlake is so angry...
I was just pointing out that Andy Murray's Wimbledon results have been very good
(especially compared to other British players) so why can't people support him a bit more?
He isn't my favourite tennis player, and I don't really expect him to win a Grandslam,
but it's sad to see people be so against him. On Gary's point about Sampras, I don't think he can considered on Federer's level. His era of tennis was far less competitive, and he never completed the career Grandslam. Federer has all-time records for wins of tournaments at every level, as well as Olmypic gold, etc. He also has a class and genius when playing at his peak, that I don't think will ever be seen again. Sampras had a very 1-dimensional game. That's what I think anyway.
btw Don, I think it is clear who knows more about tennis. Considering my comment uses actual stats to prove a point, and in your comment you just come across as a very frustrated old man.
Either way, you know literally nothing about me, so I couldn't care less what your opinion of me is.
Chris, this is in respose to your comment on the other article.
I don't think you understand where I am coming from. In my spare time I am an official featured columnist for Bleacher Report, in the tennis section (among some others.) Although this is just a hobby, it is in my interest to have extensive knowledge on the sport, and be able to give an unbiased and fair summary (otherwise, I would no longer be allowed to write official articles for the website.)
As a matter of interest, I invite any real fans of the sport to visit Bleacher Report. Discussion is given on the various aspects of the sport, and all opinions are welcome (unlike this site which I usually stay far away from, as the comments section is almost always a complete joke.)
Chris, your comment of 'cut the crap' is almost comical. It is startlingly obvious that my knowledge of tennis far exceeds your apparent fixation over Andy Murray. I have provided many relevant statistics in opposition to your comment, and if that is the best response you can come up with, I realise I was probably wasting my time.
