Tennis fans erupt over Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic development
Tennis fans are in for a treat after Andy Murray won back-to-back matches for just the second time in 2022 to set up his first showdown with World No.1 Novak Djokovic in five years.
In his first clay-court event since the 2020 French Open, Murray backed up his first-round win over Dominic Thiem by accounting for 14th-seeded Denis Shapovalov 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.
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Djokovic matched Murray's sublime performance as he defeated Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2 in what he described as his 'best performance of the year'.
And both grand slam winners advancing means the pair will clash at the Madrid Open in the first meeting between the pair since 2017.
Djokovic and Murray will meet for the 37th time in the Round of 16 at Madrid.
This is the fourth most prominent rivalry in tennis history as they overtake Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe.
Djokovic leads the rivalry 25-11 with the pair sharing 23 grand slams and 51 Masters titles.
Nostalgia will surely play a part in the build-up with the tennis world quickly hyping up the match.
So happy to see @andy_murray win! 💪🏻
— Kim Clijsters (@Clijsterskim) May 3, 2022
Thinking back to the practice session Murray played against Djokovic ahead of the Australian Open. He walked with a limp and Djokovic let him win a game.
4 years later he is going to play him in a competitive match. He’s running around like a 25 year old without a metal hip.— David Law (@DavidLawTennis) May 3, 2022
Did Andy Murray lose in R2 today?
No!
A battling, big win in so many ways:
- First time winning back-to-back matches since Sydney
- Must just feel bloody great to play well and beat a player of Shapovalov’s calibre
- Sets up a first meeting since 2017 vs Djokovic#LendlEffect— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) May 3, 2022
1234am in Madrid and Andy Murray does it, beats Denis Shapovalov 6-2 to set up meeting with Novak Djokovic. His movement pretty astonishing.
— Mike Dickson (@Mike_Dickson_DM) May 3, 2022
What a great couple of days for Andy Murray. After the win over Dominic Thiem, beats Denis Shapovalov in 3 sets 6-1, 3-6, 6-2! We get our first Novak Djokovic vs Andy Murray match since January 2017 in Doha! Bring it on! #MutuaMadridOpen
— PP (@PrashantSport) May 4, 2022
Wow.
Andy Murray, who was supposed to skip clay in 2022, gets his best win of the season beating #16 Denis Shapovalov 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the last 16 in Madrid. Just the 2nd time in 2022 that he wins back to back matches.
His draw:
R1: Thiem
R2: Shapovalov
R3: Djokovic! pic.twitter.com/XNIbAV4spG— José Morgado (@josemorgado) May 3, 2022
Andy Murray will get back to top 70 (at least) on Monday.
He probably won't get a wild card in Rome but very likely won't need more wild cards in the coming months... pic.twitter.com/gYHrrzTfdh— José Morgado (@josemorgado) May 3, 2022
Andy Murray weary of Novak Djokovic clash
While Murray admitted he was excited for the clash against the World No.1, in theory he didn't give himself a huge change of overcoming the 20-time grand slam champ.
“In theory I should have no chance in the match, he’s obviously World No.1 and I’m playing with a metal hip so I shouldn’t have a chance," he said after the match.
"It’s a great opportunity for me to see where my game’s at and to play against him again.”
Djokovic's win improved the Serb's record over Monfils to 18-0 and a rain interruption at 2-2 which forced the roof on centre court to be closed only delayed the inevitable.
"Just generally very, very good performance," Djokovic said.
"I'm very pleased, considering, you know, that up to today I was not playing my best tennis in the few tournaments that I played this year and still kind of finding my rhythm, finding my groove."
Djokovic arrived in Madrid with a 5-3 record in the three tournaments he has played in 2022.
with AAP
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