Andy Murray sets up meeting with Novak Djokovic at Madrid Open after beating world No 16 Denis Shapovalov… after fellow Brit Emma Raducanu fell agonisingly short in her bid to succeed in quarter-finals
- Andy Murray will meet Novak Djokovic on the court for the primary time since 2017
- It comes after the 34-year-old produced a wonderful win over Denis Shapovalov
- Emma Raducanu didn’t progress through to the quarter-finals in Madrid
- She lost 6-2 2-6 6-4 to Anhelina Kalinina after two hours and eighteen minutes
Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper provided signposts towards the longer term, but last night on the Madrid Open old man Andy Murray was showing that he still has it.
Having made a late decision to resume playing on clay, Murray arrange a reunion with Novak Djokovic by beating world number 16 Denis Shapovalov to succeed in the lads’s third round.
Murray will face Djokovic for the primary time since early 2017 after thrilling the gang with a 6-1 3-6 6-2 victory over the talented Canadian that finished at 12.34am.
Andy Murray showed he still has what it takes on the tennis court within the Madrid Open
The 34 year-old Scot, who doesn’t even plan to play at Roland Garros this yr so as to focus on the grass, already looks revitalised by his time with Ivan Lendl. His movement on the brown dirt continues to be a revelation after years of hip problems.
The seek for a deep run at a tournament outside a Grand Slam goes on for Raducanu, who agonisingly missed out on the ladies’s quarter finals.
A 3rd straight win at an event beckoned for the primary time since Latest York, just for her to be edged by Anhelina Kalinina, certainly one of the Ukrainians currently competing on the tour with a fireplace inside.
Raducanu cited more physical issues as she narrowly went down 6-2 2-6 6-4 after two hours and eighteen minutes, during which there was precious little to separate the 2 players.
Having felt pain in her lower back earlier this week, the US Open champion left the court for treatment after the primary set, and was much improved thereafter.
‘Throughout the week I even have been carrying some niggles,’ said Raducanu, ‘It’s form of taking its toll, all the matches at this sort of level. I believe that is thing, I feel like I’m going through this and my body is constructing with each match I play.
The 34-year-old arrange a primary clash with Novak Djokovic in greater than five years
‘A number of the time with me it’s just overload. I used to be really struggling to maneuver out wide, but credit to her, she gave me nothing.’
Kalinina is just not certainly one of the better-known Ukrainian women but showed why she has been adequate to beat three Grand Slam champions in a row.
She struck the ball superbly within the opening set and Raducanu, who had been holding her lower back early on, had little response.
After the hiatus brought on by her treatment the Kent teenager closed off her opponent’s highly effective cross court backhand and served more consistently, extracting much more errors from the opposite end.
Louis Cayer, the veteran LTA coach getting used as a part-time technical consultant, was watching courtside and would have been pleased.
Kalinina left the court after the second set and he or she rediscovered her range to go 3-1 up. The pendulum swung each ways thereafter within the form of match which showed why women’s tennis has so few players able to ascertain any form of superiority straight away.
Emma Raducanu (above) didn’t progress through to the quarter-finals on the Madrid Open
Earlier Draper showed that he’ll already be a threat at Wimbledon this summer, for which he looks set to be mechanically qualified.
The 20 year-old’s rapid improvement was further emphasised when he got here near defeating world number eight Andrey Rublev before being pipped 2-6 6-4 7-5 within the second round.
Having began the season at 265 he’s now on the cusp of the highest 100, which should see him straight into The Championships without the necessity of a wildcard.
The ability of his southpaw serve and forehand had the Russian – whose own groundstrokes are huge – rocked back on his heels for plenty of the match.
‘I’m gutted that I could not sustain my level and are available through the match, but at the identical time, this week’s a recent experience for me, being on the clay in a top event like this and playing a top-10 player,’ he said.
Raducanu (R) lost 6-2 2-6 6-4 to Anhelina Kalinina (L) after two hours and eighteen minutes
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