Andy Murray claimed his first victory over a top five opponent in six years with a a sensational victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets on Friday to advance to the semifinals at the Stuttgart Open.
Just over two weeks before Wimbledon, and in his second grass-court event this season, Murray claimed a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory in the quarterfinals in Germany.
The 35-year-old Scot outlasted Tsitsipas in a mammoth first set that ended in a tie break, and he raced away to a 5-2 lead in the second set before breaking his opponent for the second time and winning the match.
“I thought I did well. He served unbelievably well in the first set and I had very few chances when I was returning,” the 35-year-old Murray said in his post-match interview.
“But when he was creating opportunities on my serve I stayed strong. I played a really solid tiebreak and in the second set, I served well while his dropped a little bit.
“Once I was in the rallies I felt like I was dictating a lot of the points so it was a good performance.”
Murray advances to the semifinals on Saturday where he will face Nick Kyrgios, who claimed a 7-6(3), 3-0 victory over Marton Fucsovics after the Hungarian retired with a back injury.
Murray said that he was happy to hit top gear on his preferred surface.
“I don’t want to say I was the smarter player, but maybe this surface suits my style. Stefanos plays well on all surfaces but this works really nicely for my game and I’m able to use my strengths better.”
Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up, booked his place in the last four of the ATP 250 event with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
He next faces local favourite Oscar Otte, who went through following a walkover by Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.