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It has been a year of revelation for Andy Murray. With a metal hip insert, the Scotsman reached the final in Qatar and then proceeded to claim Challenger titles on clay and grass.
While his ambitions of a record sixth Queen’s Club Championship did not come to fruition, Novak Djokovic’s triumph at Roland Garros would have surely reignited Murray’s loftier ambitions at the All England Club.
After overcoming Ryan Peniston in straight sets, the 36-year-old turns his attention towards Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Round-Two encounter promises to be exciting after the Greek ace’s five-set win over Dominic Thiem. Strisipas struggled to overcome the Austrian but did enough to hand him his fourth defeat in succession.
Andy Murray vs Stefanos Tsitsipas: Overall Head-to-Head Record
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It is interesting to note that Murray is the bookmakers’ favourite to triumph against the 5th-ranked star. This is telling about the faith in his abilities despite being handed out a first-round exit from the Queen’s Club. It is at Wimbledon that the Scotsman has had his brightest moments and betting against him will be folly.
Despite the limited overlap, this is going to be the third meeting between the duo, second on grass and second in a Grand Slam. The H2H balance is equally poised at 1-1 and one of them will take a lead that might not be brought to parity given question marks about Murray’s career.
2022 Stuttgart Open Quarter-Finals Murray 7-6, 6-3
With Murray battling injuries, Tsitsipas was the favourite in this meeting. However, it did not go according to the Greek ace’s plans as he suffered a straight-sets defeat. Murray took the first set on a tiebreak and then coasted in the second, breaking the right-handed rival in this sixth game to take the lead.
It was interesting how Murray claimed the quarter-final victory. The Scotsman trailed in aces and 1st serve percentage but was efficient in all the other key metrics. He carved four serve break opportunities on Sitsipas’s serve and only gave him one sniff in return. It was a matchup of fine margins and Murray rolled back the years to overcome the then 23-year-old, 12 years his junior.
2021 US Open Second-Round Tsitsipas 6-2, 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6
Murray showcased his pedigree on the grass court in Stuttgart but was on the receiving end of Tsitsipas’s resilience at the US Open 10 months back. The duo were involved in a 284-minute marathon that saw the Green ace claiming a come-from-behind victory. Again, Tsitsipas was the overwhelming favourite with odds of 7/100 (1.07) but had to dig deep to get past Murray.
It was Murray who started brightly, breaking Tsitsipas’ serve twice to claim the first set. The second went to a tiebreak, one in which Murray failed to profit from two set points before allowing his young rival to bring the game to parity. The Scotsman took the third set with ease but it was evident by the fifth game that he was getting drained. A sniff was all Tsitsipas needed, who claimed both the deciding sets to set a date with Carlos Alcaraz in the third round.
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