Andy Murray loses to Andrea Vavassori in first round of the Madrid Open | Tennis News
Andy Murray lost to Andrea Vavassori in the first round of the Madrid Open on Thursday.
The Italian beat Murray 6-2, 7-6 (7) to record the biggest win of his career and progress into the second round where he will face world No 3 Daniil Medvedev.
Vavassaori came through a one-hour, 33-minute clash with Murray, winning 76 per cent (13/17) of net points.
Murray lost 6-2, 7-6 (7) to Vavassaori (Photo: Robert Bell/INSTARimages via AP Images)
The 27-year-old squandered a break point in the second set and admitted he began to feel nervous. But he held on in the tie-break to secure his victory on his fifth match point.
“It is a dream come true,” said the 164th-ranked Vavassori. “To play at a tournament like this, in a court like this against a true champion like him.
“I have followed his whole career. He is a hero for everybody on the Tour.
“I think until the second half of the second set, I played the best tennis of my life. Then the nerves came in, but at the end, just joy.”
For Murray it was the third straight tournament in which he has lost his first match. Murray, a two-time Madrid Open champion in 2008 and 2015, also failed to advance past his first opponents in Monte Carlo and Miami.
