Andy Murray survived an astonishing quarter-final clash with Philipp Kohlschreiber in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday, winning 6-7 7-6 6-1.
Trailing by a set, Murray held on in an epic second set, saving seven match points to win the tie break 20-18.
And Kohlschreiber – who had produced some of the best tennis of his career in the first two sets – was unable to replicate his heroics in the decisive third set as Murray secured a win that showed exactly why he’s made it to the top of the ATP World Rankings.
Andy Murray saves seven match points to survive thriller against Philipp Kohlschreiber in Dubai
Tom Bennett
1 hour ago
Andy Murray survived an astonishing quarter-final clash with Philipp Kohlschreiber in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday, winning 6-7 7-6 6-1.
Trailing by a set, Murray held on in an epic second set, saving seven match points to win the tie break 20-18.
And Kohlschreiber – who had produced some of the best tennis of his career in the first two sets – was unable to replicate his heroics in the decisive third set as Murray secured a win that showed exactly why he’s made it to the top of the ATP World Rankings.
The 33-year-old Kohlschreiber has given Murray problems in previous meetings between the pair, but the World No. 1 would not have expected such a stern test when he strode out onto the centre court in Dubai.
The worldwide audience grew as news of Murray’s struggle spread, but this was not a case of the Scot having a bad day, but rather an example of the enormous natural talent of his German opponent.
Brilliant winner after brilliant winner came from the racket of Kohlschreiber, yet Murray did enough to keep himself in the match right up until the crucial second set tie break.
Faced with the prospect of recording a first ever career win against World No. 1, Kohlschreiber’s lofty standards could have slipped. But Murray was forced to produce his very best tennis to survive a tie break that lasted over 31 minutes.
One particular shot to save the first match point of the tie breaker was described by Murray’s former coach Mark Petchey as “the best of his career”, while the breaker went on for so long that the players and umpires lost track of protocol and forgot to switch ends.
Murray’s miraculous escape in the second set proved too much for Kohlschreiber to recover from, with the relieved British star making short work of the third set to reach the semi-finals.
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