Andy Murray suffered the rare ignominy of missing seven match points in match played earlier this week as went out of the indoor Paris Masters. The double Wimbledon champion had repeated chances to put away Germany’s Dominik Koepfer but ultimately lost 6-4, 5-7, 7-6, going down 11-9 in an eighteen minute sudden death tiebreak.
This is usually not how Murray plays as he is very sharp on the court. It is of course normal for all sportsman no matter how good or focused there to have an off day. But with Murray it seemed he was more than just having an off day. As five of the match points came in the breaker, which he was continually on the cusp of winning, with his world No 58 opponent also seemingly reluctant to cross the finish line.
Koepfer, a late replacement in the draw as a lucky loser from qualifying, eventually squeezed home, having initially choked badly when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set.
The smattering of recent encouraging wins for the 34 year-old Scot will have been quickly forgotten as, once again this year, his composure deserted him on the biggest points, a recurring theme.
After missing the most match points he has done in his top flight career Murray acknowledged he had not played well enough.
‘I didn’t deserve to win the match,’ he said.
‘I didn’t play well enough to win and that’s the most disappointing thing overall.’
Meanwhile, Cameron Norrie beat Federico Delbonis 6-2, 6-1 in the opening round in Paris to keep alive his hopes of qualifying for this month’s ATP Tour Finals.
