“The level of tennis was not great” Andy Murray ends up on the wrong side of a marathon battle with Mikael Ymer in Washington

World No. 50 Andy Murray battled World No. 115 Mikael Ymer in the opening round of the 2022 Citi Open in Washington DC as the hardcourt swing resumes with the US Open Leg series. Ymer was playing in his first hardcourt match since February and despite being the underdog in the match, the 23-year-old came out on top against the Brit winning the match 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-1 after 2 hours and 50 minutes.

Murray had been coming into the event with an injury setback that saw him withdraw from the 2022 Atlanta Open in the last week of July. Hoping to make good ground in preparations for the 2022 US Open, Murray’s run was cut short by the young Swede. “I’m excited. It was the first day [of the U.S. swing], so obviously a lot left to do, but it’s a very good start of the American swing,” said Ymer in his on-court interview.

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“Cramping a little bit in the second set”: Andy Murray on the weather conditions

Murray talked about his performance in the match where the conditions despite being the ones he liked, became an issue for both the players. Ymer had started cramping in the second set after the first set went on for more than an hour and Murray also had troubles with his fitness. While the Brit was able to complete the match, he was visibly disappointed with his performance and the result that followed.

“It was disappointing obviously. I thought there was some good tennis in the first set. After that, both of us were struggling a bit physically. The level of the tennis was not great. Obviously had chances in the first set to close that out. I had set point in 6-5, then… three in the tie-break, and didn’t get it. I think he seemed like maybe he was cramping a little bit in the second set, but recovered absolutely fine after the break at the end of the [second] set.

“Went off to change and cool off a little bit, and he recovered well for the third, whereas I didn’t really. Yeah, just frustrating. Actually, in Newport, I cramped right at the end of one of my matches there. Really hot and humid. Usually, I quite enjoy playing in those conditions. Struggled a little bit the past two tournaments with that. I need to have a little look at that with my team and maybe see why that is, make a few changes,” said Murray speaking with the press.

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