MANACOR, August 28, 2019
Matteo Viola knocked out Briton Andy Murray in the third round of the Rafa Nadal Open by Sotheby’s International Realty. The 32-year-old Italian won 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) under the lights on Thursday evening in Mallorca.
Murray, who has made his first appearance on the ATP Challenger Tour since 2005 and was seeking some match wins and confidence in his comeback from hip surgery, was cramping in the final set and took two medical time outs.
Viola remained ruthless, won six points less than the former World No. 1 but clinched the tie-break of the final set by the score of 7-3, and secured victory after two hours and 43 minutes.
What a great battle! 🔥🎾
Tras una durísima batalla, @MatteoViola_ATP ha superado a @andy_murray 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 y se clasifica para cuartos de final del #RafaNadalOpen by @sothebysrealty pic.twitter.com/GjDN0wAD1J
— Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar (@rnadalacademy) August 29, 2019
“It was a good experience here. I would have liked to play more matches but I enjoyed it. Physically I need to get better,” a tired Andy Murray said during his on-court interview.
Next up for Viola will be Blaz Kavcic. The World No. 239 from Slovenia, who reached a career-high World No. 68 in 2012, edged past No. 7 seed Sergiy Stakhovsky from the Ukraine, winning 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 43 minutes.
El italiano Matteo Viola se impone ante Andy Murray en octavos de final
🗯I feel unbelievable happy🗯 pic.twitter.com/I1aMEtviYi
— Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar (@rnadalacademy) August 29, 2019
Earlier in the day, Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland knocked off No. 4 seed Yannick Maden of Germany. The 20-year-old from Helsinki won 57 per cent of the total points played to secure a 6-4, 6-3 victory in one hour and 16 minutes. Ruusuvuori will next take on Pedro Martinez. The ninth seeded Spaniard defeated Tim van Rijthoven from the Netherlands 6-3, 7-6(5) in just under two hours of play.
In the remaining quarterfinals at the €46,600 ATP Challenger event, Jurij Rodionov of Austria will meet Spanish #NextGenATP player Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Illya Marchenko from the Ukraine will oppose Germany’s Daniel Masur.
