STUTTGART, June 7, 2022
Andy Murray made a successful Stuttgart debut by winning his first-round match at the BOSS Open. The 35-year-old Briton defeated Australian qualifier Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday afternoon.
Murray, who is competing in his first grass-court event outside the United Kingdom since 2005 and is coming off a semi-final at the Surbiton Challenger, struck seven aces and won 88 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after one hour and 35 minutes.
Back to winning ways! 💪@andy_murray takes out O’Connell 6-4 6-3 to advance in Stuttgart#BOSSOPEN pic.twitter.com/nhBcQ2TPqj
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 7, 2022
“The start wasn’t that good but there were some good points after the re-break in the first set,” the two-time Wimbledon champion said. He will next take on Alexander Bublik in what is expected to become a highly-entertaining encounter. The No. 7 seed from Kazakhstan edged past US-American Denis Kudla 7-6(3), 7-5 in one hour and 33 minutes.
In the longest match of the day, with only one break on each side, Swiss qualifier Dominic Stricker battled past serve-and-volley specialist Maxime Cressy from the United States 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(2). In his first ATP Tour main draw match of the season, the World No. 200 struck 19 aces to secure victory in two hours and 37 minutes.
Stricker will next challenge Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, top seed of the ATP 250 grass-court event.
“I am extremely happy. I’m really looking forward to playing against Tsitsipas. I’ll try to annoy him a little,” the 19-year-old lefty from Münsingen said.
Kyrgios prevails
In his first match since a semi-final showing in Houston in April, Nick Kyrgios showed a solid performance against Czech youngster Jiri Lehecka. The 27-year-old Australian fired 18 aces, saved both break points he faced and capitalized on one of his own three break-point chances to advance after one hour and 17 minutes.
Sealed in STYLE 😂 @NickKyrgios #BOSSOPEN pic.twitter.com/HGrIAeIfdb
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 7, 2022
Up next for Kyrgios will be either fifth favourite Nikoloz Basilashvili or #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti. Their final match on Center Court was suspended and postponed to Wednesday due to rain. The 30-year-old Georgian is leading 7-5, 4-2.
