- Murray’s Wimbledon journey ends in a five-set battle against Tsitsipas
- Norrie and Broady eliminated, leaving British men out of the tournament
- Boulter remains the sole hope for British success in the singles competition
Fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Andy Murray in the second round on the tenth anniversary of his 2013 Wimbledon title.
On Friday, the British player fell 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (2-7) 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 after being halted by Wimbledon’s curfew at 11 p.m. on Thursday.
Just before Murray’s defeat, British number one Cameron Norrie succumbed to Christopher Eubanks 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-7 (3-7).
Fifth-seeded Briton Liam Broady was defeated in the third round by 26th-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 7-5.
The trio’s losses ended British interest in the men’s draw and diminished the All England Club crowd’s spirits.
Their eliminations leave Katie Boulter, the top-ranked British woman in singles, as the only remaining local player.
Boulter meets defending champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan on Saturday to reach the fourth round for the first time.
Murray pushes one of the best but falls agonizingly short Murray is a two-time Wimbledon champion, having also won in 2016. He had expressed optimism about his prospects of advancing deep into the tournament.
He was unseeded after a poor performance at Queen’s, leaving him vulnerable to an early test.
Even after the draw presented the possibility of facing 24-year-old Tsitsipas, Murray insisted he possessed the skill and intelligence to cause difficulties on the SW19 grass for any opponent.
Against one of the best men’s tennis players, he was proved correct.
Murray won a floodlit indoor match on Thursday at 22:39 BST.
Wimbledon, unlike the other Grand Slams, has a 23:00 curfew imposed by the local council.
Both players were ready for a break at the set’s end.
They dominated the server when they returned, playing outside on a hot July afternoon.
At 4-4 15-30, Murray missed an opportunity to successfully dispute a line call that would have altered the match’s trajectory.
Tsitsipas remained calm during the tie-break, which seemed inevitable.
At the beginning of the decisive match, under a clear sky, the atmosphere of the home crowd deteriorated.
In the third game, Murray’s serve came under severe duress. The Scot’s slice into the net was followed by Tsitsipas’ well-judged volley before a double fault brought three break points.
Murray saved two, but a forehand into the net handed the opponent an advantage he could not overcome.
Murray’s challenge was exemplified by the quality of play Tsitsipas had to produce to advance and record his best win of the grass-court season on a difficult surface.
Murray waved farewell as Centre Court gave him a standing ovation, and despite knowing that he will not have many opportunities to play there in the future, he demonstrated that he is far from done.
Overnight escape ‘didn’t help Tsitsipas
Who would benefit more from the overnight break, Murray, after his painful-looking fall or Tsitsipas after his momentum shifted against him?
The delay did allow the romantics to daydream.
Ten years to the day and at the site of the defining moment of his career, Murray returned on Friday hoping to earn his highest-ranking victory since the 2013 final.
The realists’ belief that the delay would benefit Tsitsipas was validated.
As he overcame the deficit, the 2021 French Open runner-up and 2023 Australian Open runner-up produced another serving masterclass, as he did in the first two sets on Thursday, and did not face a break point.
When asked if the 18-hour delay benefited him, Tsitsipas responded, “It wasn’t that helpful.” You are juggling numerous responsibilities.
“Andy Murray is the opponent on the other side of the net. He can run a marathon, whereas I had to exert extra effort.
“My legs are sore because he made me run up and down and left and right for how many hours?”
Norrie and Broady’s dismissal dashes British men’s aspirations
The 27-year-old Norrie reached the Wimbledon semifinals last year, but his attempt to repeat that performance was foiled by an inspired Eubanks.
On Court One, the 12th-seeded Norrie failed to capitalize on four of his thirteen break-point opportunities against the American’s serve.
Eubanks referred to grass as the “stupidest surface” in a text exchange with former women’s world number one Kim Clijsters earlier this summer. However, he won an ATP title in Mallorca last week after receiving advice from the Belgian.
Norrie stated that he was unable to deal with the opponent’s “absolute rockets” from the beginning of the match.
“I was outclassed. I was unable to get into the game as much as I desired. “He came out and was slamming the ball, not missing at all,” Norrie said.
Broady, 29, was unable to capitalize on the greatest victory of his career as he fell to Shapovalov, a semifinalist in 2021.
The 142nd-ranked player in the world upset the fourth-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud in the second round, but he was unable to produce another memorable result as his impressive run, which earned him £131,000, came to an end.
