Andy Murray earned his 46th ATP singles title today beating Stan Wawrinka in Antwerp 36 64 64 to win the European Cup.
It’s the first title for Murray since 2017 and his hip surgery earlier this year.
“It means a lot. The past few years have been extremely difficult. Both me and Stan have had a lot of injury problems in the past couple of years. Amazing to be back playing against him in a final like that. I think it was a great match,” Murray said on court after his victory. “I didn’t expect to be in this position at all, so I’m very happy.”
Murray, 32 years old and ranked 243, leads the head to head with Stan now 12-8.
Murray, down a set and break earlier in the match today, clinched the title when Wawrinka missed an inside in forehand wide. Murray managed to beat some formidable competitors this week en route to the ATP 250 title – Kimmer Coppejans, Pablo Cuevas, Marius Copil and Ugo Humbert. Humbert and Copil also pushed Murray to the three set limit.
“Stan is a brilliant player. He’s won many, many big tournaments. He always plays extremely well in the big matches,” Murray said. “We know each other’s games well. We played many tough matches in the past. I expected another one today and that was what I got.”
Andy Murray · Facing Andy Murray
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« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next »Scoop Malinowski · October 25, 2019 at 4:39 pm
No problem Hartt, I hope you can read one or two at some point. Maybe request your library to obtain copies?
Scoop Malinowski · October 25, 2019 at 4:39 pm
Compared to the ATP site which is excellent, the WTA site is a disappointment… or disaster.
Andrew Miller · October 25, 2019 at 9:19 pm
ATP site is good!
Scoop Malinowski · October 25, 2019 at 10:58 pm
I never heard of this but it’s maybe the best tennis film I ever saw… https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3929&v=kx8E9Clwgvk
catherine · October 26, 2019 at 12:28 am
Can you imagine this kind of docmentary being made now ? No, I didn’t think so.
I remember Martina when she was a brunette – actually I remember Chris when she was a brunette.
Life was real then 🙂
catherine · October 26, 2019 at 12:42 am
Problem with the WTA is the people who run it don’t believe that women in sport ‘sell’ themselves through their athleticism. I think as athletes they do and I also think that the majority of fans know this and see the glamour and all that puff for what it is. In some ways we’ve gone backwards and I’m surprised women like BJK and Martina, for eg, can’t see this and don’t speak out about it.
Does Kerber really believe the drivel she spouts about Head and Shoulders shampoo ? Does she think that’s how she’ll be remembered ? I hope not. And she surely doesn’t need the money. She should be promoting tennis, not confusing everyone. Or else it’s just vanity. Shame on you Angie.
catherine · October 26, 2019 at 3:51 am
Re the documentary – how long did it take for viewers to realise that NO ONE IS ON THEIR PHONES.
catherine · October 26, 2019 at 5:11 am
I’ll make no comment on this article but I think it’s worth reading, bearing in mind criticisms of the WTA on this thread. Except to suggest the WTA has made a mistake putting so many tournaments in China.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2019/oct/26/wta-finals-shenzhen-womens-tennis-richest-event-history-troubling-backdrop#comments
Andrew Miller · October 26, 2019 at 7:52 am
Money talks. In other news, Sabalenka-Muchova a nice match! Sabalenka has the upper hand, Muchova lost the thread as she had many chances to put away the second set, let it slip into tie tiebreak. Sabalenka kept the pressure on.
Sabalenka should keep Tursunov. Clearly turned her into a much better player. She still pulls a Sabalenka during matches, but this is a quality effort against the rising Muchova.
Andrew Miller · October 26, 2019 at 7:58 am
Ah China’s golden handcuffs. That was a good article. Easy to see why there is a stadium named for Billie Jean King BJK! Kramer sounds mean.
Andrew Miller · October 26, 2019 at 7:59 am
Also interesting though, the glam. Not sure how this helps the WTA. When everything is so glossy the sport loses.
catherine · October 26, 2019 at 8:00 am
Muchova might have been pretty tired but she fought well – 7 dfs from Sabalenka – Tursunov should really work on that, it’s lost Saba matches before. Plays Bertens next which could be tough but Kiki’s been worked hard the last few matches.
Sabalenka’s bf is a hockey player – I can picture them arm wrestling together. Aryna wins.
Scoop Malinowski · October 26, 2019 at 8:03 am
Rumor mill…Yastremska to hire Bajin. Or Clijsters and Bajin.
Andrew Miller · October 26, 2019 at 8:09 am
Good highlights out of Basel, Vienna.
Basel –
Tsitsipas vs Federer, round 3 for 2019. Federer should win this, but Tsitsipas looked good dispatching the rising Krajinovic.
Opelka vs. De Minaur. Opelka once again making a believer of people with his enormous game. But De Minaur likes this kind of match. Players don’t seem to play De Minaur right, Struff was making bad decisions, he was too eager to hit the ball to wait for De Minaur to commit first. Split second more.
Always good to see De Minaur rising as Australia’s best player.
Vienna
Thiem benefits as Carreno Busta retires from the match. It will be Thiem vs Berretini, as Berretini got the win on Rublev. I was surprised to see Rublev playing with a blacked out painted racquet, means he’s testing racquets. Guess he switched from Wilson. Berretini and Thiem both are playing like Tsonga
Monfils gets Schwartzmann. This should be a great match. I like both of them. Nothing not to like.
Scoop Malinowski · October 26, 2019 at 8:40 am
De Minaur could play the role of the Boy Wonder Robin in next Batman sequel, he is 3-0 this year vs Opelka. Monfils could tank the match to get to China to resume making Gems life videos. Wawrinka defaults to Federer again Hmmmm.
Scoop Malinowski · October 26, 2019 at 8:41 am
Good point Catherine, no phones really was nice, those days are long gone.
Hartt · October 26, 2019 at 11:27 am
That was an entertaining match between Thiem and Berrettini in Vienna. Both guys played well, but Dominic prevailed in the end. I think the crowd absolutely willed him to the victory.
Now if he can just win the title at his home tourney – it is so important to him.
Not to mention that he is a treat-eligible player! 🙂
Jon King · October 26, 2019 at 11:37 am
Opelka and Jay Berger have practiced a handful of times at our practice courts. Seeing Reilly serve up close is something to behold. In fact seeing Reilly up close at all is something, he is an absolute skyscraper.
Scoop Malinowski · October 26, 2019 at 11:46 am
Jon, Opelka is better than Isner, better player, better mover, better strikes, and eventually better server. He’s 3-0 or 2-0 vs Isner this year. Opelka will be top 5 or better. My crystal ball works. Even Andrew’s cracked crystal ball could predict Opelka will be top 5 and better than Isner.
Scoop Malinowski · October 26, 2019 at 11:47 am
Hartt, don’t become a Sock supporter or you may never eat a snack again.
Andrew Miller · October 26, 2019 at 12:07 pm
De Minaur > Kyrgios, no? #scoreboard
Kyrgios better watch out…he could be on his way to tennis irrelevance and therefore irrelevance at home in Oz. For a guy that lives or dies on attention, which is oxygen to him, this kind of matters.
Just watch…Kyrgios might even pull another famous player’s dad and show up on TP!
Andrew Miller · October 26, 2019 at 12:09 pm
Bertens should beat Sabalenka, but Sabalenka could find a way. I’m putting chips on Bertens right here with a prediction…Bertens in two.
Andrew Miller · October 26, 2019 at 12:12 pm
Yes, nice win for Thiem. Should beat the Schwartzmann or le Monf. I will root for Schwartzmann or le Monf. I like them a lot, but Thiem is playing great at home this year.
Hartt · October 26, 2019 at 12:19 pm
Scoop, there was never a danger that Sock would be a treats-eligible player, even when he was playing well! I have to like the player’s personality as well as their tennis, and Sock never appealed to me.
But I have a firm limit on the number of players who are treats-eligible, so if I want to add one, another player has to go. There are so many appealing young players now that managing the list is getting more and more difficult.
Andrew Miller · October 26, 2019 at 12:38 pm
Rooting for Schwartzmann, giant killer!
Andrew Miller · October 26, 2019 at 12:40 pm
Sock is lone wolf, me against world (rather than “me against social media”) player. What’s not to like? He’s not mean to kids or anything like that. His biggest issue is his awful backhand, so so work ethic, poor prep. Otherwise he’s decent!
Andrew Miller · October 26, 2019 at 12:42 pm
Opelka is better than Isner? News to me. The potential to have a better career sort of, his body with betray him in less than two tournaments.
Scoop Malinowski · October 26, 2019 at 1:39 pm
yes right now I think Opelka is better than Isner. And he will only get better. Isner could be on the way down.
catherine · October 26, 2019 at 2:04 pm
Andrew – yes, I’ll go with Bertens in 2. She’s older and more experienced and knows how to get Aryna hitting all over the place.
catherine · October 26, 2019 at 2:21 pm
Halep will be back with Cahill in Shenzhen this week and will play Andreescu (seen sporting green nail polish and her new Rolex watch at the pre-tournament pc)on Monday.
Simona will most likely win but it’ll be interesting. Hartt may remember the two first met up at the Rogers Cup in Toronto 3 years ago and Simona gave her fellow Roumanian some words of encouragement.
Hartt · October 26, 2019 at 5:44 pm
Regarding Simona encouraging Bianca, Bianca was thrilled. Simona even advised Bianca not to stay in juniors too long, that she was ready for the pro tour, and Bianca followed that advice.
Andrew Miller · October 26, 2019 at 11:04 pm
Emotions, maybe Andreescu is on top because she emotes. Bertens so tough, but shows nothing. Mucbova, so talented but Sabalenka seemed to have her here. Thiem was a lion the whole week and will be in the finals. Serena, always.
catherine · October 27, 2019 at 2:11 am
Another moan about WTA – highlights are often terrible and sometimes entirely absent. Looked in vain for Sabalenka/Muchova. Nothing. Just a pirated few points of the tiebreak. Not the way to attract casual spectators.
catherine · October 27, 2019 at 3:08 am
My reverse jinx worked again – Sabalenka over Bertens in SS. Clocks changed here so I missed most of it but maybe the generous WTA will help out.
catherine · October 27, 2019 at 3:16 am
Of course Aryna goes with Mertens for the doubles in Shenzhen now so her season could still finish on another high.
Very nice moment at the net.
Andrew Miller · October 27, 2019 at 7:07 am
Announcer: “Sabalenka barely putting a foot wrong.”
Well, that was something – Sabalenka looked like Wonder Woman there. She ripped Bertens apart. I wasn’t ready for that.
Yes I was surprised by the WTA media decision not to put up a Sabalenka/Muchova highlight.
Sheesh. Yeah I wasn’t expecting that dominant performance from Sabalenka, today, this week. Her game more than held up, she plastered the opposition.
Andrew Miller · October 27, 2019 at 7:17 am
Federer vs De Minaur – De Minaur has to want to win this one. Federer shouldn’t be phased, but he may be annoyed many balls come back.
Hartt · October 27, 2019 at 8:27 am
In an interview Fed said that when he has pizza with the ball kids they give him a medal (like the ones the ball kids get). So he has another incentive. 🙂
catherine · October 27, 2019 at 8:52 am
https://www.wtatennis.com/news/i-wont-look-back-or-forward-sabalenka-stays-present-cap-asian-swing-surge-zhuhai-triumph
Usual stuff in this interview but one or two interesting points re her relationship with Tursunov. And how losing weight has helped her – cutting down on the goodies.
Andrew Miller · October 27, 2019 at 8:52 am
Hire Bajin as a hitting partner. Makes it easier to cut the chord, and you get all the credit.
Andrew Miller · October 27, 2019 at 8:55 am
Yes, Sabalenka is generous in acknowledging Tursunov’s coaching. Sabalenka seems decent. I give her a solid B for the semifinal handshake and an A for the Bertens hug, as well as an A+ for the Chinese kid.
catherine · October 27, 2019 at 11:02 am
Osaka has the best serve of the lineup in Shenzhen and my prediction is that she’ll win it and be the one to beat in 2020.
Bencic outplayed Barty until Belinda hurt her foot.
Hartt · October 27, 2019 at 11:51 am
The final in Vienna between Thiem and Schwartzman was a terrific match. Diego dominated for the first half, but Dominic raised his level and won in the end. This has been a dream for Domi since he was a young boy, so well done!
Scoop Malinowski · October 27, 2019 at 12:49 pm
Massu has inspired Thiem to a higher level. Federer looked fantastic too, as did both losers Schwartzman and deminaur.
Hartt · October 27, 2019 at 2:36 pm
Dominic has improved on hardcourts. Also, his father, who is a tennis coach, has been with him more lately. He was shown checking out an opponent’s match and also at Thiem’s practice, so it looks like he is playing a role as well.
Dominic’s parents, as well as his brother, watched this match. His family looked very tense during much of it.
Diego, in his RU speech, was charming. He said he was glad that Domi had a South American on his team, and also said that Domi’s “mama and papa” were friends with his mother. Both players spoke about their close friendship, and there was that lovely warm embrace at the net.
Andrew Miller · October 27, 2019 at 7:46 pm
Thiem was fired up! His opponents have played well this week, but Thiem was playing every match as if it were a final. I don’t think I’ve seen Thiem pump himself up so much.
Andrew Miller · October 27, 2019 at 7:47 pm
Thiem, Federer must be excited to win at home. Federer has so many highlights from Basel so add to that decimating De Minaur.
Andrew Miller · October 27, 2019 at 7:50 pm
Schwartzmann is a small box of TNT. I’m glad he’s on tour. Literally every player towers over him.
Scoop Malinowski · October 27, 2019 at 8:01 pm
Schwartzman is a miracle, in some ways I respect him more than Fed Rafa or Djokovic.
Scoop Malinowski · October 27, 2019 at 8:03 pm
Agree Andrew, Thiem made some new expressions of desire and hunger I don’t think he ever did before. He really wanted this one. Hope he expresses similar gestures of desire in the majors next year. My opinion is he was too stoic and blank before. Gotta get down and dirty and really want it.