November 11, (THEWILL) – American Tommy Paul ended Andy Murray’s run at the Stockholm Open on Thursday when he defeated the Brit 6-2 3-6 6-3.
Murray was coming off one of his best wins of the year over Jannik Sinner, while Paul was in a fantastic position after defeating Taylor Fritz in the previous round.
The American displayed his threat from the back of the court by taking the first break of the match in the third game of the first set.
Murray continued to struggle and was broken for the second time after a 14-minute service game as Paul, whose forehand was on fire, took control of the first set at 4-1.
Murray regained one of the two breaks in the next game, and the three-time Grand Slam champion began to adjust to the strong groundstrokes coming from the opposite end of the court.
Murray’s first-set comeback, however, was short-lived, as he was broken for the third time by Paul, who served the match out 6-2 in closing the first set.
The American maintained his high level of play, but the former world number one dug deep to stay with him at the start of the second set, breaking for a 4-2 lead that set him up to win the second set 6-3.
Murray’s first double fault of the match gave Paul a critical break at 5-3 in the decider, and the world number 52 kept his cool to serve out a three-set victory and book a semi-final date with Frances Tiafoe.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
