Andrea Vavassori beat Andy Murray in straight sets at the Madrid Open on Thursday; But Murray still has "ambitions of competing for Wimbledon titles"; Vavassori took career best win: "It is a dream come true. I've followed his whole career. Andy Murray is a hero for everybody on the Tour"
Thursday 27 April 2023 20:50, UK
Andy Murray lost to Andrea Vavassori in the first round of the Madrid Open on Thursday, but still retains his Wimbledon title ambitions.
The Italian beat Murray 6-2, 7-6 (7) to record the biggest win of his career and progress into the second round where he will face world No 3 Daniil Medvedev.
Vavassori came through a one-hour, 33-minute clash with Murray, winning 76 per cent (13/17) of net points.
The 27-year-old squandered a break point in the second set and admitted he began to feel nervous. But he held on in the tie-break to secure his victory on his fifth match point.
Murray's loss to a player ranked 164th in the world made it four consecutive defeats for the Briton, equalling the worst run of his professional career.
It was the third consecutive tournament in which he lost his first match. Murray, who won in Madrid in 2008 and 2015, had also failed to advance past his first opponents in Monte Carlo and Miami.
The only bright spot for Murray was how he found a way into the match in the second set.
Murray lost the first four games and went an early break down in the second set against 27-year-old qualifier Vavassori, who is at his highest career ranking.
The Italian did play well but Murray was making too many unforced errors and was unable to make any headway on his opponent's serve.
He changed that in the eighth game, breaking Vavassori for the first time, and he saved four match points in the tie-break, only to twice net straightforward volleys.
"It wasn't great. I started to play a bit better towards the end but the start was slow. He played very well at the
beginning, and he's serving huge. Some of the errors are hard to explain," Murray reflected afterwards.
It is the first time since 2019, when his hip problems were at their worst, that Murray has lost four matches in a row and, having reached the third round in the Spanish capital last year, he is set to drop back out of the top 60.
Given one of the main objectives for the 35-year-old playing on clay was to improve his ranking in a bid to be seeded for Wimbledon, things are clearly not going the way he would have hoped.
However he still intends to play in the French Open.
"Whilst I feel fit and healthy, I would like to give it a go," he said. "But I also have ambitions of competing for Wimbledon titles and that sort of stuff and, I know that sitting here today that probably doesn't sound realistic, but I do believe that that's a possibility."
For the 164th-ranked Vavassori however beating Tour "hero" Murray was a delight.
"It is a dream come true," Vavassori said. "To play at a tournament like this, in a court like this against a true champion like him.
"I have followed his whole career. He is a hero for everybody on the Tour.
"I think until the second half of the second set, I played the best tennis of my life. Then the nerves came in, but at the end, just joy."
In a difficult tournament so far for British hopes Murray's defeat followed Emma Raducanu's withdrawal and another loss for Kyle Edmund.
British No 1 Cameron Norrie was handed a first-round bye and will start his campaign against Yosuke Watanuki after the Japanese qualifier beat Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-3.
