“It has been a long time,” Andy Murray reaches his 10th grass-court final after smashing Nick Kyrgios at Stuttgart

“It has been a long time,” Andy Murray reaches his 10th grass-court final after smashing Nick Kyrgios at Stuttgart

Andy Murray

Andy Murray played some ‘good old’ grass-court tennis to reach his second Tour final of the season. Murray defeated Australian showman Nick Kyrgios in straight sets 7-6(5),6-2 in the semifinal of the 2022 Stuttgart Open to reach his 10th final on grass. In the previous nine finals on grass, Murray has just lost one final and has a good chance to make it 9 wins out of 10 on Sunday when he meets second seed Matteo Berrettini.

Murray, who is playing with a metal hip, has had to struggle a lot in the last 2 seasons but is finally looking settled. He has had some good results this year and is just one win away from breaking into the Top 40 once again. If Murray wins the final, he will be a seeded player at Wimbledon, which will be a huge achievement for him.

The Brit was on song right from the start against Kyrgios and was very solid on serve. He didn’t give the Aussie many opportunities from the baseline and tried to dictate the rallies. The first set was very crucial for both players given their high percentage serve game. The set went into a tie-breaker where Murray held his nerve to win it 7-6(5).

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The second set, after Kyrgios‘ game penalty, was much of a formality. The Aussie completely lost his rhythm and gave away free points to Murray. The Brit capitalized on it to win the set 6-2.

“I am proud of the effort I have put in”: Andy Murray

Andy Murray
Andy Murray

In the post-match interview, Murray expressed his emotions by saying that it has been a long time to play a final on grass and talked about how he kept working through all the pains

“It has been a long time since the last final [on grass]. A lot of ups and downs, but I kept going and kept working and finally managed to get to another one. I am proud of the effort I have put in,” Murray said.

He also spoke about the match and admitted that he was more solid in the tie-breaker and had the right mindset to play on these fast courts. “I was just a little more solid in the tie-break. I asked the questions. On these courts, when it is playing quick, the set often comes down to one or two points and I was a little more secure at the end of the first set,” he said.

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