'Disaster': Tennis world gobsmacked by Andy Murray meltdown
Andy Murray suffered a horror final set after losing seven match points to fall in the first round of the Paris Masters to lucky loser Dominik Koepfer.
The rollercoaster match, which had the crowd on their feet, could have been over but Koepfer was unable to secure victory when he served for the match in the second set.
'BEST NEWS': Tennis fans erupt over Rafa Nadal announcement
WOW: Serena Williams shatters records with staggering $60,000 sale
'BAD MEMORY': Shock new twist in Novak Djokovic vaccine drama
However, 90 minutes later he secured a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (9-7) win over Murray.
Wildcard Murray was let down by his serve - nine double faults and landing only 49 per cent of his first serves - and 36 unforced errors.
But the Scot suffered multiple lapses on match points as he attempted to secure victory seven times to no avail.
To Koepfer's credit, he showed incredible steel when facing match point seven times.
Fans were left gutted at Murray's demise, despite being so close to advancing in the thriller.
That was a really tough loss for Andy Murray. He'll be blaming himself after missing 7 match points, but I blame @markpetchey (😉) for jinxing him, inferring it was won 2 or 3 times and dismissing his German opponent.#RolexParisMasters #CommentatorsCurse
— Gavin Newlands MP (@GavNewlandsSNP) November 1, 2021
Andy Murray lost a tennis match despite having 7 match points.
Or Dominik Koepfer won one, saving 7 match points.
Over here, the former would probably *just* about get the nod for the intro.
But both true. And hard to comprehend.— David Law (@DavidLawTennis) November 1, 2021
I don't know how Andy Murray lost that one. Can't recall him ever failing to convert so many match points (7) - closest I can find was five against Novak Djokovic in the 2012 Shanghai Masters final.
— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) November 1, 2021
It was the fact Murray had been on the brink and turned it around. Straight sets loss to a free-swinging, rhythm-robbing LL? Happens sometimes. But now he ends 2021 with a match he had every chance to win.
May well light the fire under his feet for 2022, but it's a wake-up call.— Abigail Johnson (@abigailtennis) November 2, 2021
Koepfer didn't win this match. Andy lost.#Tennis #parisatp #Murray
— slip (@nokija13) November 1, 2021
But 7 match points is a disaster. Murray will be a top 50 even if some may say after today’s match, “he should retire”, he has played some phenomenal tennis lately in such little time since hip surgery, he will get better, even if it’s not next week in Stockholm or the
— LionHeart (@lion_heart89) November 1, 2021
Andy Murray's ranking boost fail
Ranked 144th in the world, Murray needed a good result at the ATP Masters 1000 event to improve his ranking and get easier draws next season.
However, after a strong showing at Indian Wells and the European Open, Murray failed to convert his decent form into results in Paris.
Meanwhile, Britain's Cameron Norrie remained in contention for one of the two remaining ATP Finals spots by cruising past Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-2, 6-1.
The 10th-seeded Norrie - who won the title in Indian Wells last month - secured his 100th tour-level victory, 49 of which have come this year.
Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev and Matteo Berrettini have already qualified for the ATP Finals.
Norrie, Casper Ruud, Jannik Sinner, Hubert Hurkacz and Felix Auger-Aliassime are contending to make the eight-player field.
"It's cool to have this added pressure of playing for an extra event at the end of the year," Norrie, who has never been to the elite finals, said.
Among the oher players to reaching the second round in Paris were Spanish 12th seed Pablo Carreno-Busta and young guns Sebastian Korda of the United States and Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
with AAP
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.
