Andy Murray saves three set points and wins final set tie-break to beat Lorenzo Sonego and reach the second round of the Qatar Open… and Liam Broady is also through after defeating Oleksii Krutykh
- Murray produced another epic comeback to beat Sonego at Qatar Open
- The 35-year-old was playing his first game since the Australian Open in January
- Broady scored a valuable main tour win by beating Krutykh in deciding tiebreak
The finishing hour was not ridiculously late this time, but Andy Murray produced more drama as he picked up from where he had left off at the Australian Open.
The 35 year-old Scot made it into the second round of the Qatar Open when he saved three match points and then bounced back from 0-3 in a sudden death tiebreak to beat Lorenzo Sonego 4-6, 6-1, 7-6.
He was accompanied through the first round in similar fashion by less heralded Brit Liam Broady, who defeated fellow qualifier Oleksii Krutykh 6-0, 4-6, 7-6.
Murray now faces Alex Zverev after another escape act, which saw him rescue three match points at 4-5 in the decider when it looked like he was being overwhelmed by the hard-hitting Italian.
‘It was really tough, it took a while to get used to his game,’ said Murray. ‘He is very aggressive and plays high risk. He rolled the dice at the end but made a couple of mistakes and I managed to turn it round.’
Andy Murray was playing his first game since the Australian Open in January
Murray took a rest after his Melbourne marathons and made a sluggish start before a major uplift in his serve helped him level the match. At 0-3 in the tiebreak he stayed calm while his opponent cracked under the pressure to lose six consecutive points, the British veteran finally closing it out 7-4.
Despite his performances in Melbourne Murray badly needs the points to build his ranking from a modest 70, but he will be heartened by again showing that his movement is somewhere back to normal at this late stage of his career.
Broady, more commonly seen on the Challenger circuit, scored a valuable main tour win by beating the Ukrainian 7-2 in his deciding tiebreak. He now gets a relatively rare shot at a top player when he meets Sunday’s ATP winner of Rotterdam, Daniil Medvedev.
Jack Draper was meant to be part of the British contingent in the Qatar draw, but withdrew due to what was described as an issue with his right leg and hip.
He hopes to be back for the first Masters level event of the season, early next month at Indian Wells.
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