Former champion Andy Murray dug deep to edge out Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 in front of a jubilant Centre Court Crowd at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday night.
The come-from-behind victory saw Murray – who claimed a solitary Dubai title in 2017 – register a landmark 500th career win on hard courts. He becomes only the fifth player to achieve the feat, joining luminaries of the game Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andre Agassi.
“It’s not bad, is it?” Murray said after reaching the milestone. “Hard courts have been a great surface for me over the years, and getting to 500 is a lot of matches. I am very proud of that, not a lot of players have done it, so it’s great to do it before I’m done.”
Meanwhile, second seed Andrey Rublev overcame China’s Zhang Zhizhen in three sets 6-7 (4/7) 6-2 6-4 in another match on Monday.
Earlier, in challenging winds, the twilight ATP 500 Round of 32 match started with eight consecutive service holds as both players found early rhythm on their own serve. The first break points arrived in game nine, as Shapovalov found the outer corners of Centre Court with a pair of dazzling one-handed backhand winners. After squandering the first chance, the 24-year-old grabbed the second to move 5-4 up, then held serve to claim the first set.
With both players holding serve for the first three games of the second set, Murray finally broke the big-serving Shapovalov in game four. The Brit’s ecstasy, however, immediately turned to agony as Shapovalov instantly broke back, then held, to make it 3-3.
As Murray, 12 years his opponent’s senior, increasingly threatened the Shapovalov serve, the Canadian’s monstrous first service cannons got him out of jail on numerous occasions. Murray, receiving, regularly stood someway behind the ‘Dubai’ signage adorning the hardcourt beyond the baseline. The tactic proved fruitless, as Shapovalov unleashed 215-kilometre serves time after time with pinpoint accuracy.
Battle-worn and grimacing repeatedly after several points near the end of the second set, Murray found emergency reserves of energy to force a tiebreak, which he won 7-5 to level the match – much to the delight of an adoring crowd.
Murray then broke Shapovalov in the opening game of the third set, which progressed on serve until 5-3 when Shapovalov suddenly found himself serving to stay in the match. With unforced errors now littering the Canadian’s game, Murray unleashed a glorious backhand winner at 30-30 to set-up match point. It proved to be the only opportunity the British veteran needed, as Shapovalov volleyed Murray’s return of serve into the net.
“Both of us haven’t won too many matches lately; he’s coming back after missing a large part of last year. He’s played well on these courts in the past and he served unbelievably,” said Murray, whose win preserved his record of having never lost in the first round in Dubai.
“I had to get the balance right between reacting to his big shots, but not just putting balls back into the court. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to get it done in the end.”
Meanwhile, Alexei Popyrin of Australia pulled out of the tournament due to an abdominal strain. He is replaced by Lucky Loser Luca van Assche.
In the ATP 500 event’s opening match on Centre Court, the Netherlands’ Botic Van de Zandschulp upset sixth seed Adrian Mannarino, the World No19, in straight sets. With both players holding serve and almost politely swapping breaks enroute to a 6-6 stalemate, Van de Zandschulp, the World No75, managed to pull clear in the tie-break to seal the tiebreak 7-3.
After the match umpire handed Mannarino a conduct warning between sets for smashing his racquet in frustration, the second set remained a tight affair. Eleven consecutive holds of serve suggested another tie-break lay in wait, but Van de Zandschulp got the better of his French opponent’s service game at exactly the right time to triumph 7-6, 7-5 in just under two hours.